HWP / HWPX Converter (to PDF or Word)

How to convert an HWP file to PDF or Word

1. Tap Choose HWP or HWPX files and pick the document (or several – they are converted together and can be downloaded as one ZIP). The first time, your browser downloads the conversion engine (about 4 MB); after that it is cached.
2. Under Convert to, choose PDF, Word (DOCX) or HWP↔HWPX.
3. Tap Convert, check the page 1 preview, then save the result with the Download button.

Once you have a PDF, you can attach it to an application together with your other papers using Merge PDF, or keep only the pages you need with Split PDF.

What is an HWP or HWPX file?

HWP files come from Hangul (also written Hwp or "Hancom Hangul"), the word processor made by the Korean company Hancom. It has been Korea's standard word processor since the 1990s, so Korean government agencies, public institutions, schools and universities still write most of their forms, notices and official letters in it.

• .hwp is the older binary format (HWP 5.0, used since Hangul 2002).
• .hwpx is the newer open format: XML files packed in a ZIP, defined by the Korean national standard KS X 6101 (OWPML, Open Word-Processor Markup Language). Hangul 2014 and later can save it, and since public bodies moved to open formats, more and more documents from Korean institutions arrive as .hwpx.

Outside Korea, almost nobody has Hangul installed, and Microsoft Word, Google Docs and macOS Preview generally can't open these files. That is why international students, expats, foreign employees of Korean companies and overseas partners often get stuck on an application form, a visa document or a university notice they simply can't read.

Ways to open HWP files without Hangul

If you only need to read, print or submit the document, a PDF from this page is usually the quickest. If you have to fill in a form and send it back, convert to Word, type your answers, and ask the sender whether a reply in Word or PDF is acceptable.

PDF or Word: what carries over

Choose PDF when the layout must match the original (submitting or keeping a record), and Word when you need to edit or translate the text. Converted Word files may break lines in slightly different places than Hangul does.

Limitations

• PDF fonts: Hancom fonts such as HCR Batang can't be redistributed, so the PDF uses the free Noto Sans KR (for gothic/sans fonts) and Noto Serif KR (for myeongjo/serif fonts). Character positions and line breaks stay as they are; only the letter shapes differ slightly. In Chrome or Edge on a computer, turn on Use fonts installed on this computer to embed the document's own fonts when you have them (fonts whose makers forbid embedding fall back to the free fonts). You don't need any Korean font installed to convert.
• Pages added as images: a page with gradient fills, arrowheads, or characters missing from the font (emoji, Old Hangul) is added as an image (about 200 dpi) to keep its look, with invisible text on top so it can still be searched.
• Line breaks: the layout is computed by the conversion engine, so line and page breaks can occasionally differ from Hangul.
• Password-protected documents and files from HWP 3.0 or older can't be converted. "Distribution" documents locked against copying or printing may not open either – ask the sender for an unlocked copy or a PDF.
• Large documents are processed in your device's memory. On a phone, stay under a few dozen pages and 50 MB; use a computer for documents of 100 pages or more.
• The result can differ from the original. For an important submission, ask the sender to confirm, or compare it with a PDF saved directly from Hangul.

Frequently asked questions

Are my files uploaded?

No. Your document is never sent to a server; it is converted only inside your browser. The page downloads the open-source conversion engine (rhwp, MIT license) once, but the contents of your file never leave your device and are cleared from memory when you close the page. For PDF, only the pieces of the free fonts that contain the characters in your document are downloaded from a font CDN (jsDelivr), so its logs can show at most which character ranges were needed (for example Hanja or bold) – never the text itself.

Can I search and copy text in the PDF?

Yes. The text is embedded as real text, not as a picture, so you can search it, copy it, and paste it into a translator. Lines and tables are vector graphics, so they stay sharp when you zoom in.

Can I open HWP files on a Mac?

Yes. Open this page in Safari, Chrome or Edge on your Mac and convert the file to PDF (opens in Preview) or Word (opens in Microsoft Word, Pages or Google Docs). The same works on Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad and Android – nothing to install.

Is the Korean text kept?

Yes. The Korean (Hangul) text is preserved in both formats. In Word it stays real text, so you can copy it into a translator such as Google Translate, DeepL or Papago. The PDF keeps it as real text too, so you can select and copy it there as well.

Does it translate the document into English?

No, the converter keeps the document in its original language. Convert to Word first, then translate the text with the translator of your choice.

Do old .hwp files work?

Yes. HWP 5.0 files (Hangul 2002 and later) convert to both PDF and Word. For Word, the HWP file is first turned into the HWPX structure and then converted.

Can I convert HWP to HWPX, or HWPX to HWP?

Yes. Choose HWP↔HWPX: an HWP file (Hangul 5.0) becomes HWPX, the open format Korean public institutions increasingly ask for, and an HWPX file becomes HWP for people on older Hangul versions. Small details such as the page-number style may change, so ask the recipient to check important documents in Hangul.

Can I convert Word back to HWP or HWPX?

No, this tool only converts from HWP and HWPX (to PDF, Word, or the other Hangul format). If the recipient strictly requires an HWP file, a Word document can be opened in Hancom Office (Hangul) and saved as HWPX there – otherwise ask whether Word or PDF is acceptable.

Sources

• HWP/HWPX rendering library used in the browser: @rhwp/core (npm, MIT)
• PDF generation: pdf-lib (GitHub), font handling @pdf-lib/fontkit (GitHub)
• Free fonts embedded in the PDF: Noto Sans KR and Noto Serif KR (SIL Open Font License, Fontsource builds)

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