XPS to PDF
If a receipt, statement or form was saved with the Microsoft XPS Document Writer, you have an .xps file that most phones, Macs and email recipients cannot open. Convert it to PDF here and the pages look exactly as they were printed.
Convert to PDF
or drop DOC, DOCX, DOCM … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
Convert the whole document or only some pages, slides or sheets.
Pages or slides to keep, e.g. 1-3, 5, 8-10. Numbers refer to the original document.
Source margins keep the document's own layout. Narrow is 12.7 mm, normal 25.4 mm, wide 50.8 mm left and right.
Excel, ODS and Numbers files: convert every sheet, or only the one that was open when the file was saved.
JPEG quality for photos inside the document. 90 looks identical to the source; lower it to make the PDF smaller.
Leave empty for no password. If set, the PDF asks for it before opening. Not available with PDF/A.
How to use this tool
- 1
Upload the .xps file
Drop the file the virtual printer created, usually in Documents. You can add .oxps files from Windows 8 and later in the same batch, up to 20 files of 95 MB each.
- 2
Keep the page size
Same as source keeps the paper size the printer driver used. Switch Page size under Advanced settings only if you need every page forced to A4 or Letter.
- 3
Convert to PDF
Press Convert to PDF and download. The PDF opens in any browser, and our copy of your files is deleted after 30 minutes.
How do I open an XPS file without XPS Viewer?
Convert it to PDF on this page. The pages, fonts and selectable text are kept, and the PDF opens in any browser or PDF app on Windows, macOS, iPhone or Android.
Where XPS files come from and why they are hard to open
Microsoft introduced the XML Paper Specification in 2006, alongside Windows Vista, as a fixed-layout format for printing and sharing pages. Every Windows version since has shipped a virtual printer called Microsoft XPS Document Writer. When you print to it, Windows writes the page description to a file instead of sending it to paper. Ecma International later standardized the format as OpenXPS (ECMA-388) in 2009, and from Windows 8 onward the writer saves .oxps by default.
XPS never caught on outside Windows. Adobe Acrobat Reader does not read it, macOS Preview and iPhone Files show nothing, and since Windows 10 version 1803 even Windows has left XPS Viewer out of new installations unless you add it as an optional feature. The files that remain are usually printouts of bank statements, online receipts, tax forms and government confirmations that someone saved by choosing the wrong printer.
Because XPS and PDF are both fixed-layout formats, converting between them is clean. The text, vector graphics and embedded fonts move across as they are, so the PDF has the same pages, the same line breaks and text you can still search. Nothing is rasterized into a picture.
Fixed-layout formats this page converts
| from ↓ · to → | PDF/A | |
|---|---|---|
| XPS | XPS to PDF: yes | XPS to PDF/A: yes |
| OXPS | OXPS to PDF: yes | OXPS to PDF/A: yes |
| DJVU | DJVU to PDF: yes | DJVU to PDF/A: yes |
XPS
XML Paper Specification
XPS is a fixed-layout document format introduced by Microsoft in 2006 as an alternative to PDF. Windows used it for the Microsoft XPS Document Writer printer, so many people encounter .xps files after printing to a file by accident. It preserves layout, fonts and vector graphics in a ZIP package of XML. Outside Windows, very few applications open XPS, and PDF has become the universal choice instead.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- No
- Introduced
- 2006 · Microsoft
Portable Document Format
PDF was created by Adobe in 1993 and became the open ISO 32000 standard in 2008. It fixes text, fonts, images and layout so a document looks the same on every screen and printer. PDFs can contain forms, signatures, links, attachments and searchable text, and the PDF/A variant is used for long-term archiving. The fixed layout makes PDFs hard to edit, and scanned PDFs contain only images unless OCR is applied. Every browser and operating system can open them.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- No
- Introduced
- 1993 · Adobe
XPS was Microsoft's own fixed-layout format, used mostly by the Windows print-to-file printer, and support outside Windows is thin; PDF carries the same fixed pages to every phone, Mac and browser.
XPS vs PDF: common misunderstandings
MythXPS is just Microsoft's name for PDF, so any PDF reader opens it.
FactXPS is a separate XML-based format. Acrobat Reader and web browsers cannot display it.
MythRenaming file.xps to file.pdf makes it a PDF.
FactThe contents stay XPS, so the renamed file is reported as damaged. It has to be converted.
MythA print-to-file document is only a picture of the page.
FactXPS stores real text and embedded fonts, so the converted PDF stays searchable.
MythOXPS and XPS are interchangeable everywhere.
FactOpenXPS from Windows 8 and later differs enough that Windows 7's viewer cannot open it. Both convert here.
XPS to PDF questions
Where did this XPS file come from?
Almost always from printing to the Microsoft XPS Document Writer, a virtual printer that Windows lists next to real printers. Choosing it by accident, or because no other option was available, saves the page as .xps instead of putting it on paper.
Why can't I open XPS files on my Windows 10 or 11 PC?
Starting with Windows 10 version 1803, XPS Viewer is no longer installed by default on new installations; it became an optional feature you add in Settings. Converting to PDF is quicker than installing it, and the PDF works on every other device too.
Will the text in the PDF be searchable?
Yes. XPS stores text as characters with embedded fonts, not as a picture, so the converted PDF keeps text you can select, search and copy.
How do I avoid creating XPS files next time?
Pick Microsoft Print to PDF in the print dialog instead of the XPS Document Writer. Windows 10 and 11 include it, and it saves a PDF directly.
Can I combine several printed XPS receipts into one PDF?
Convert them together in one batch, then join the PDFs with Merge PDF. That gives you a single file for an expense report or a tax folder.
What about DjVu scans that also will not open?
The same converter reads DjVu, a format used by many digital libraries for scanned books. See DjVu to PDF for the details of that conversion.