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Word 2007: Getting Graphics Files from a Document

If you wanted to save the graphics out of a pre-2007 version of Word, you would have had to copy and paste each one to a graphics program and then save each as a file.

In the Word 2007 xml document format, the graphics are actually saved as separate parts of the file. Here’s how to access the graphic files in a Word document.

Note: It is possible that you could damage the original Word document doing this, so you may want to work on a copy.

1. Rename the file you want to break apart with a .zip extension. Right-click on the file, choose Rename and change only the .docx to .zip. You well get a warning, respond to it with OK. The icon on the file will also change, because it is now a zip file.
2. Double-click on the renamed file. You’ll see folders and files, double-click on the one called word.
3. In the word folder, double-click on media. There you should see the graphic files from the document. You can copy those files out of the folder for your own use. Be sure not to move them out of the folder, as that can corrupt your original Word document.
4. To reuse the file in Word, close all open windows, and rename the file back to .docx.

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