How to Open an .xdw File (DocuWorks)
An .xdw is a document from DocuWorks, the document-handling software from FUJIFILM Business Innovation (formerly Fuji Xerox). You do not need DocuWorks itself: the free DocuWorks Viewer Light shows and prints it.
Why it will not open
- DocuWorks is used by companies and local governments in Japan — Fujifilm cites more than ten million licences sold and case studies from city halls such as Kobe and Iwata — and Fujifilm's multifunction printers can send scans and faxes straight into it. Nothing on Windows, macOS, iOS or Android opens its files out of the box, so the person who receives one usually cannot open it as it is.
- On Japanese Windows, double-clicking one can end in the error 「この種類のファイル（.xdw）を開くことはできません」 (this kind of file cannot be opened). Fujifilm's support article for DocuWorks 10 (DW10090) gives two causes: the software is not installed, or the file is associated with the wrong program.
- It behaves like "electronic paper", much as a PDF does, but the format is DocuWorks' own, so PDF readers and browsers cannot read it on their own.
How to open it
Windows: DocuWorks Viewer Light 10 (free)
- 1 Download DocuWorks Viewer Light 10 from Fujifilm's DocuWorks support page. The current version is 10.1.1, released on 27 August 2026, a 48.2 MB ZIP.
- 2 Fujifilm describes it as a free, view-only program: you can view and print documents and take out the original data attached to them. It cannot edit them.
- 3 It runs on Windows 11 (on Arm, from version 24H2). Check Fujifilm's specification page for the processor, memory and disk requirements.
- 4 If .xdw files still will not open after installing it, right-click one, choose Properties, and on the General tab use Change to pick DocuWorks Viewer Light (dwvlt.exe) as the program that opens it — the procedure Fujifilm gives in DW10090 for DocuWorks, applied to Viewer Light.
Mac: DocuWorks Viewer Light 9.1 (macOS)
- 1 Fujifilm distributes a separate viewer for macOS, in Japanese and English (version 9.1.3 on the download page). It views and prints DocuWorks documents and binders up to version 9 — Fujifilm lists Ver. 1–9 documents and Ver. 4–9 binders — and documents protected with a DocuWorks seal or a digital certificate are not supported.
iPhone, iPad and Android
- 1 Install "DocuWorks Viewer Light 10" from the App Store (it requires iOS 17 or later) or "DocuWorks Viewer Light" from Google Play. Both are free.
- 2 Save the attachment to the Files app (or the phone's storage) first, then open it from the viewer app.
If you cannot install anything
- 1 The XDW viewer on this site opens .xdw and .xbd files in the browser, with nothing to install, and saves them as a PDF or as text. The file is not uploaded. It is an independent reader, not Fujifilm's, and protected documents cannot be opened.
- 2 For a document where every detail matters, asking the sender for a PDF as well is still the dependable route.
.xbd and .xct
An .xbd is a DocuWorks binder — several documents bundled into one file — and an .xct is a DocuWorks container. Fujifilm lists all three (.xdw, .xbd, .xct) as the formats Viewer Light 10 opens.
Protected documents
A document protected with a password needs that password to be opened. Documents protected with a DocuWorks seal or a digital certificate cannot be opened in the Mac or phone viewers at all. Ask the sender for an unprotected copy or a PDF.
Checking what a file is
The file identifier on this site recognises a DocuWorks document from its first bytes, even when the extension has been lost or changed.