ODT / ODS to Text Converter

About this tool

ODT / ODS to Text Converter on UtilityKit pulls the readable text out of LibreOffice and OpenOffice files (.odt for documents, .ods for spreadsheets) and gives you a .txt download. The conversion runs in your browser: JSZip (loaded from cdnjs on first use) unzips the OpenDocument archive, a small custom XML walker reads the content.xml inside, and paragraph, heading and cell text becomes plain UTF-8. In tables and spreadsheets each cell's text goes on its own line, cells after the first in a row start with a tab, and rows are separated by a blank line; all sheets of an .ods are extracted one after another without sheet names. Drop in a file up to 25 MB — the file never reaches a server. Word and character counts appear automatically so you can verify the extracted size before downloading. Useful for stripping formatting from a LibreOffice draft, reading the text of an .ods without an office suite, or feeding OpenDocument content into a script.

Why use it

• Local-Only: JSZip and the XML walker run entirely in your browser — files never leave your device.

• Two Formats in One Tool: Handles both .odt text documents and .ods spreadsheets without switching tabs.

• Clean UTF-8 Output: Output is plain UTF-8 text suitable for scripts, search indexes, or pasting elsewhere.

• No LibreOffice Needed: Extract OpenDocument content without installing any office suite.

• Live Stats: Words, characters, and detected format appear automatically.

• Free & Unlimited: No signup, no ads, no daily quota.

How to use

1. Drop a .odt or .ods file onto the dropzone, or click to pick one (max 25 MB).
2. JSZip opens the OpenDocument archive in your browser and reads the internal content.xml.
3. A small XML walker extracts only the visible paragraph or cell text and discards styles and metadata.
4. Verify the live word and character counts and the detected format (odt or ods) at the top of the result.
5. Click Copy text to grab the result, or Download .txt to save it as a UTF-8 file.
6. Drop a different document at any time — nothing is cached between runs.

When it helps

• When you need to grab the raw text from an .odt without opening LibreOffice.
• When you need to read or search the text of a small .ods spreadsheet without opening LibreOffice.
• When a colleague sends an OpenDocument file and you only need the readable content.
• When migrating LibreOffice notes into a Markdown-based knowledge base.
• When auditing an unfamiliar .odt to see what content (if any) it actually contains.
• When archiving a document in a long-lived format every operating system can open.

Examples

meeting-notes.odt

Plain UTF-8 paragraphs in meeting-notes.txt — formatting stripped, content preserved.

expenses.ods (one sheet: Item, Cost / Tea, 3)

Item
	Cost

Tea
	3

Tips

• Spreadsheet output puts each cell on its own line, so for a proper CSV or TSV open the .ods in LibreOffice and use Save As instead.
• For .odt files with extensive footnotes, the footnote text is included inline at the position where each note appears.
• Strip extra blank lines after conversion using a regex like \n{3,} → \n\n in any text editor.
• The first conversion needs a network connection to fetch JSZip from cdnjs; later files in the same visit reuse it.
• Combine with Word Counter to confirm the extracted text matches a target word budget.

Frequently Asked Questions

Glossary

ODF (OpenDocument Format)

An ISO-standard open file format for office documents (.odt, .ods, .odp, .odg). Internally a ZIP archive containing XML and resource files.

content.xml

The primary XML file inside any OpenDocument archive that contains the document's body — paragraphs, tables, cells, and inline styles.

JSZip

A pure-JavaScript library that reads and creates ZIP archives directly in the browser, used here to unwrap the OpenDocument container.