EPUB to SXW Converter

Convert EPUB ebooks to OpenOffice SXW documents free

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Legacy Office Format

EPUB content becomes an SXW document compatible with original OpenOffice Writer — ideal for systems that require the 1.0 format specifically.

Server-Side Processing

The full conversion runs on Convertio infrastructure — no need to install OpenOffice or any plugins on your device.

Data Protection

Uploaded EPUB files are deleted after conversion. SXW output files are cleaned from servers automatically within 24 hours.

How to convert EPUB to SXW

1

Select files from Computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, URL or by dragging it on the page.

2

Choose sxw or any other format you need as a result (more than 200 formats supported)

3

Let the file convert and you can download your sxw file right afterwards

About formats

EPUB (Electronic Publication) is an open ebook standard originally developed by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) and now maintained by the W3C following the organizations' merger in 2017. The first version carrying the EPUB name was approved in October 2007 as a successor to the Open eBook Publication Structure (OEBPS). An EPUB file is essentially a ZIP archive containing XHTML or HTML5 content documents, CSS stylesheets, images, fonts, and metadata organized according to the Open Packaging Format and Open Container Format specifications. The current major version, EPUB 3, supports reflowable and fixed-layout content, embedded multimedia, JavaScript interactivity, MathML equations, and rich accessibility features including semantic markup and media overlays for synchronized text and audio. A defining advantage is universal device support — unlike proprietary formats, EPUB works natively on virtually every non-Kindle e-reader, tablet, and reading application, from Apple Books and Google Play Books to Kobo and dozens of third-party apps. The reflowable text model is another core strength, automatically adapting pagination, font size, and margins to match any screen dimension and user preference. EPUB's open specification and active W3C stewardship ensure long-term preservation and vendor independence, making it the de facto standard for digital publishing across libraries, academic institutions, and commercial retailers worldwide.
Initial release: October 2007
SXW is the word processing document format used by StarOffice 6.0 and OpenOffice.org 1.0, developed by Sun Microsystems and released in 2002. The format was one of the first mainstream office document formats to adopt an XML-based architecture, packaging document content, styles, metadata, and embedded media in a ZIP archive — a structural approach that directly influenced the later OpenDocument Format (ODF). The content.xml file describes the document body using XML elements for paragraphs, headings, lists, tables, footnotes, and inline formatting, while styles.xml defines the styling rules and meta.xml carries document properties. SXW represented a significant milestone in open-source office software, demonstrating that a non-proprietary XML format could handle the full range of word processing features including change tracking, indexes, cross-references, and complex page layouts. One advantage was transparency and openness — the XML structure made document content inspectable, transformable, and processable using standard tools, a sharp contrast to the opaque binary formats dominant at the time. The format's role as a technological precursor to the ODF standard is another historical significance: the OASIS OpenDocument Technical Committee used the OpenOffice.org XML format (including SXW) as the starting point for developing ODF 1.0. While SXW was superseded by ODT with OpenOffice.org 2.0 in 2005, existing SXW documents can be opened by LibreOffice, Apache OpenOffice, and document conversion tools.
Developer: Sun Microsystems
Initial release: 2002

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert EPUB to SXW?

SXW is the original OpenOffice Writer format — needed for compatibility with legacy OpenOffice 1.x installations or archived document systems.

What opens SXW files?

LibreOffice Writer, Apache OpenOffice, and older StarOffice/OpenOffice 1.x installations handle SXW documents without difficulty.

Is SXW still relevant today?

SXW is largely superseded by ODT, but legacy systems, old archives, and some institutional workflows still rely on the original format.

Does EPUB text formatting carry over?

Paragraphs, headings, and basic styling transfer to SXW. Advanced EPUB layout features may be simplified in the word processor format.

Is EPUB to SXW free?

Absolutely — Convertio converts EPUB to SXW for free. Premium accounts offer extended file sizes and batch conversion support.