Open WBK files in your browser
A .wbk is the version of your document from before your last save, kept by Word. Read it right here, without Word. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your document opens as its pages, with its fonts, pictures and tables.
- Every page • Headers, footers, notes and charts
- Final, Markup or Original • Comments and changes
- Reflow • The text fitted to your screen
- Export • Save as PDF, PNG, JPEG or Markdown
About WBK
With Always create backup copy on in Word’s options, each save renames the version before it to Backup of Report.wbk in the same folder, so there’s always one save to go back to. Word 97 to 2003 kept a binary DOC under that name, and Word 2007 and later keep a DOCX.
Filepeek tells which by its bytes and opens it in the document viewer: text, styles, pictures, tables, headers, footnotes and tracked changes, laid out on pages, with Export to save them as PDF or pictures.
Word itself opens a .wbk only through File, Open with All files picked, which is why it seems not to open at all. Its macros, if it has any, never run here.
Word backup file
.wbk
Format
- MIME type
- application/octet-stream
- Made by
- Microsoft Word
Inside the file
- Holds
- The version before your last save
- Inside
- A DOC, or a DOCX since Word 2007
- Named
- Backup of and its document’s name
- Made by
- Microsoft Word
Opens in every browser
Filepeek opens .wbk files in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, on computers and phones. On their own, browsers only download them.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Apps that open WBK
- WindowsMicrosoft Word
- MacMicrosoft Word
- iPhone and iPadNo app opens it
- AndroidNo app opens it
Questions
How do I open a .wbk file?
Drop it here. In Word, choose File, Open, set the file type to All files and pick it.
How do I turn on Word’s backup copies?
In Word, open File, Options, Advanced, and under Save tick Always create backup copy. Word then keeps a .wbk beside each document it saves.
Can I turn a .wbk back into a .docx?
Open it in Word through File, Open with All files and save it as DOCX. Here, Export saves its pages as PDF or pictures.
Why is my .wbk older than the document?
It’s the version before your last save, so it’s always one save behind the document beside it.
Is it safe to open a .wbk here?
Yes. Its macros never run here, and the file never leaves your device.