Office to Markdown Converter
A professional tool to convert Microsoft Office documents (.docx, .pptx) directly to clean, well-formatted Markdown, with AI-powered image descriptions.
This extension is designed for developers, technical writers, and content creators who need to quickly move content from Office documents into their Markdown-based workflows. It's entirely self-contained and requires no external dependencies like Python or Pandoc to be installed on your system.
Key Features
- One-Click Conversion: Right-click any
.docx or .pptx file and convert it with a single click.
- AI-Powered Image Descriptions: Automatically generates descriptive
alt-text for images in your document using GitHub Copilot, improving accessibility and SEO.
- Zero Configuration: Works out of the box. The extension bundles its own Python environment for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
- Intelligent Image Handling: Extracts images from your documents and places them neatly in a corresponding
_images folder, with correct relative links in the Markdown file.
- Cross-Platform: Fully supports Windows (x64), macOS (x64), and Linux (x64).
- Preserves Formatting: Retains essential formatting like headers, lists, bold, and italics during conversion.
Getting Started
- Install the Extension: Find and install "Office to Markdown Converter" from the VS Code Marketplace.
- Find Your File: Open the VS Code Explorer (file tree).
- Right-Click and Convert: Right-click on a
.docx or .pptx file you wish to convert.
- Select Command: Choose "Convert to Markdown" from the context menu.
The first time you run a conversion, the extension will take a minute to set up its internal Python environment. You'll see a progress notification in the bottom-right corner. Subsequent conversions will be much faster.
After the conversion is complete, a new folder named transformed_doc will be created in the same directory as your source file, containing the final .md file and its associated images.
Requirements
- Visual Studio Code: Version 1.102.0 or newer.
- GitHub Copilot (Optional but Recommended): The AI image description feature requires an active GitHub Copilot subscription. The core document conversion functionality will still work without it, but image tags will have empty descriptions.
Known Issues
- Encrypted or password-protected Office files are not supported.
- Very complex SmartArt or table structures may not convert perfectly.
Please report any bugs or feature requests through the appropriate channels.
Release Notes
For detailed information about each release, please refer to the project's commit history or release tags.
Attribution
This extension stands on the shoulders of giants. The self-contained Python environments are made possible by:
Enjoy the extension!
