How to Open an .xdw File Without DocuWorks (Free: Browser, Viewer Light, Phone)

A government office or a Japanese business partner sent you an ".xdw" file, and double-clicking it does nothing. An .xdw is a document from DocuWorks, Fujifilm's document software, and opening one takes DocuWorks or its viewer. Neither comes with any computer or phone.

This article is for people without DocuWorks: how to open the file on this page with nothing to install, how to use Fujifilm's free DocuWorks Viewer Light on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android, how to turn it into a PDF, and what to do when it will not open. For what the format is (and how it differs from .xbd and .xct), see What is an XDW (DocuWorks) file.

Option 1: Open it in your browser (nothing to install)

The XDW viewer at the top of this article opens it as it is, on Windows, a Mac or a phone, with nothing to install.

1. Drop the .xdw (or a binder, .xbd) onto the dashed box, or click the box and choose the file. On an iPhone, save the mail attachment to the Files app first, then choose it.
2. The pages appear from top to bottom. In a binder, each document's name appears above its first page.
3. "Save as PDF" puts every page into one PDF. "Save the text" saves the text of every page as a .txt file.

It also works on a work PC where you cannot install software. According to Fujifilm's release notes, installing Viewer Light needs administrator-level rights, so on a PC without them you cannot install it yourself.

It has limits. Documents protected with a password or a certificate cannot be opened (their pages are encrypted, and this viewer has no way to enter a password). A signed document is shown, but its signature is not checked. Text is drawn with the Japanese fonts on your device, so letter shapes can differ from the original. DocuWorks containers (.xct) are not supported, and files over 300 MB are not opened. The reader is an independent implementation, not Fujifilm's, so some documents are written in ways it cannot read yet. It cannot edit or annotate a document.

Option 2: Install DocuWorks Viewer Light 10 on Windows

If you open .xdw files often, or need to see a document exactly as DocuWorks shows it, install Fujifilm's free viewer. Fujifilm's download page (in Japanese) calls it a free, view-only viewer, and it opens DocuWorks documents (.xdw), binders (.xbd) and containers (.xct).

• Current version: 10.1.1, registered on 27 August 2026. The file is dwvlt10_1_1.zip (a 48.2 MB ZIP).
• System requirements: the release notes (in Japanese) list Windows 11 (on Arm, 24H2 or later), 2 GB of memory and 500 MB of free disk space to install.
• What it does: shows and prints documents, searches and copies their text, and takes out the original file a document carries (its "original data"). It cannot edit them.

To install it, as in Fujifilm's setup guide (in Japanese):

1. On the download page, accept the licence terms to download the ZIP.
2. Close every running application, extract the ZIP, and double-click Setup.exe inside it.
3. Choose a language and click OK (answer Yes if User Account Control asks).
4. Click Next, accept the licence agreement and click Next, keep the setup type at Standard and click Next, then Install and Finish.
5. If it asks you to restart, restart and sign in as the same user who installed it.

If .xdw files still do not open

When double-clicking one shows "This kind of file (.xdw) cannot be opened", Fujifilm's support article DW10090 (in Japanese) gives two causes: the software is not installed, or .xdw files are associated with the wrong program. DW10090 is written for DocuWorks itself; for Viewer Light it becomes:

1. Right-click the .xdw, open Properties, and click Change on the General tab.
2. Choose DocuWorks Viewer Light and click OK. If it is not in the list, use "Choose an app on your PC" and pick dwvlt.exe, the Viewer Light program named in the release notes.

The release notes also say that installing Viewer Light on a PC that already has DocuWorks leaves the association alone, and installing DocuWorks after Viewer Light moves it to DocuWorks.

Option 3: DocuWorks Viewer Light 9.1 on a Mac

For the Mac, Fujifilm offers a separate viewer, "DocuWorks Viewer Light 9.1 (macOS)", in Japanese and English. The current version is 9.1.3 (registered on 5 February 2026, a 3.0 MB DMG), and it views and prints.

The download page lists DocuWorks Ver. 1–9 documents (.xdw), Ver. 4–9 binders (.xbd), and DocuWorks containers (.xct, with no version given). Ver. 5–9 documents and binders protected with a DocuWorks seal or a digital certificate are not supported. If the Mac viewer will not open a document, try Option 1 too.

Option 4: The iPhone, iPad and Android apps

Fujifilm has free apps for phones and tablets. Both open DocuWorks Ver. 4 and later documents (.xdw), binders (.xbd) and containers (.xct); they open password-protected documents, but not documents protected any other way (a seal or a certificate, for example).

• iPhone and iPad: "DocuWorks Viewer Light 10" on the App Store. It requires iOS or iPadOS 17.0 or later (the current version is 10.1.1). It also shows PDFs, and it adds thumbnails and previews of DocuWorks documents to the Files app.
• Android: "DocuWorks Viewer Light" on Google Play. It does not work on devices without Google Play.

Both apps can add markers and text sticky notes. Combining or splitting documents and rotating pages needs a DocuWorks 10 purchase or subscription, according to the app pages. To just read the file, Option 1 works without installing anything.

Turning an .xdw into a PDF

A PDF is easier to pass on to someone without DocuWorks, or to another program or a print shop.

• Here on this page: open it in the viewer at the top and click "Save as PDF". Each page goes into the PDF as an image (150 dpi) with the document's text laid invisibly over it, so it looks the same as on screen and you can search and copy the text. It is not an editable document. The file does not leave your device here either. When some text sits under sticky notes or filled shapes, that text would otherwise go into the invisible text layer too. So the viewer tells you as soon as it finds text that cannot be seen on screen, and when you click "Save as PDF" it lets you choose an image-only PDF with no text layer (its text can't be searched or copied). "Save the text" can likewise replace the hidden characters with ■. Fujifilm gives the same remedy, an image PDF, for hidden text showing up in DocuWorks' own PDF conversion in DW10105 (in Japanese).
• From Viewer Light 10 on Windows: open the document, print it, and choose "Microsoft Print to PDF", which comes with Windows, as the printer to save a PDF. A protected document whose printing is prohibited cannot be printed (Viewer Light help), so this does not work for it.
• If the sender has DocuWorks: DocuWorks 10 converts documents to PDF itself (support article DW10112, in Japanese: select the document in DocuWorks Desk and click "Convert to PDF (DocuWorks PDF)" on the work bar). Asking for a PDF as well costs them very little.

When it will not open

• "This kind of file (.xdw) cannot be opened": Viewer Light is missing, or the association is wrong. Fix it with the steps in Option 2, or use Option 1.
• It is protected with a password or a certificate: the viewer on this page cannot open it. Password-protected documents open in Viewer Light on Windows and in the phone apps (ask the sender for the password). Documents protected with a DocuWorks seal or a digital certificate need DocuWorks itself, and do not open in the free Viewer Light (Windows or Mac) or the phone apps (Fujifilm support article DW10168, in Japanese). The quickest fix is to ask the sender for an unprotected copy or a PDF.
• You received an .xbd or .xct: an .xbd (binder) opens in the viewer on this page too. An .xct (container) does not, so open it in Viewer Light (Windows or Mac) or the phone apps.
• No extension, or the wrong one: put the file into the file identifier. It recognises a DocuWorks document from its first bytes, not from its name.
• This page says "The file could not be read. It may be damaged, or written in a way this viewer does not understand yet.": try Fujifilm's software from Options 2 to 4.

Which to choose

• You need to see it now, cannot install software, or are on Windows 10: Option 1 (the viewer at the top of this article).
• You receive .xdw files regularly on Windows 11: Option 2 (DocuWorks Viewer Light 10).
• You open them on a Mac or phone every time: the apps in Options 3 and 4. For a one-off, Option 1 is enough.
• You need to pass it to someone without DocuWorks: turn it into a PDF first.
• It is protected and will not open: ask the sender for an unprotected copy or a PDF.