Bring your manuscript in — don't retype it

Looking to import a Word document into writing software without retyping the whole manuscript or splitting it into chapters by hand? Writer Studio reads DOCX, Markdown, plain-text, and Scrivener files directly, turns them into real chapters and scenes, and shows you exactly what it found before anything is created.

What file formats can Writer Studio import?

Writer Studio imports plain text (TXT), Markdown (.md), Word documents (DOCX), and Scrivener projects (.scriv). All four are working parsers, reachable from the import dialog in the app you can download today. Each one lands as an ordinary, editable manuscript: nothing is locked, and every imported chapter or scene can be renamed, moved, or deleted exactly like structure you built by hand.

What comes across is your prose and its structure, not a pixel-perfect copy of the page. The Word parser resolves tracked changes as you'd want — insertions kept, deletions dropped — and carries direct bold and italic. Images, footnotes, endnotes, and comments don't come through; the import counts them for you so you know what to go back for. A table's prose is imported like any other paragraph; its rows and columns are not.

Where do I start an import?

You can start an import from two places: the welcome screen, by choosing "Start from an existing manuscript," or from inside an already-open project, via the command palette or the File menu. The dialog gives you two ways in — a file picker for TXT, Markdown, and DOCX, and a separate button for choosing a Scrivener project, which is a folder rather than a single file. Either way, you review what Writer Studio found, then choose where it lands: a brand-new project, or one you already have. Starting from inside an open project adds a third option — that project. Nothing about your existing projects changes until you say so.

How does importing a Word document turn into chapters and scenes?

Writer Studio reads the headings already in your file. In a Word document, Heading 1 and every level below it become chapters — the heading text becomes the chapter title — and a ***, * * *, or --- line (or a page break) inside a chapter starts a new scene. In Markdown, chapters come from Heading 1 and Heading 2, and a level-3 heading (###) starts a scene. If nothing in the file signals structure, the whole manuscript comes in as a single scene, and the preview says so plainly rather than guessing.

By default that top level is flattened: a Heading 1 section becomes an ordinary chapter rather than a container. If your draft is organized into parts, turn on Map top-level parts to acts in the preview — offered for Word, Markdown, and Scrivener — and a Heading 1 with chapter headings nested under it becomes an act holding those chapters. A Heading 1 with nothing nested under it stays a chapter, so you never end up with an empty act. Either way you get real, editable manuscript structure, and regrouping afterward is a few drags, not a rebuild.

What do I see before anything is created?

Nothing is created until you confirm it. The preview shows a book title pre-filled from the filename and yours to edit, each chapter with its scene count, the total word count, and any warnings from reading the file — you're agreeing to a structure you've actually seen, not a black box. Click Import and a progress bar runs through the stages, with Cancel still available; when it finishes, the dialog closes on the first scene of your new book. If anything was skipped, a report opens listing what and why — and when nothing was skipped, there's no screen to dismiss.

A few guarantees carry through the whole process. The source file is never touched. Cancel partway, or quit the app mid-import, and the partly built book doesn't become yours to clean up: the next time you open that project it's moved to Trash, where you can look at it or leave it. And imported words don't count toward your daily goal or your streak, since they're existing work rather than today's writing. Import is also a one-time door: once it's done, your project, not the original file, is the source of truth. See the full import walkthrough for the step-by-step.

Coming from Scrivener?

Point Writer Studio at the .scriv project itself — no compiling first. The import dialog has a dedicated button for choosing a Scrivener project. What comes across is the Draft folder: its folders and text documents become your chapters and scenes. Research, notes, and anything else sitting outside Draft stays behind in Scrivener, so keep that project around if you still need it.

Your Part folders have a choice of their own. Leave Map top-level parts to acts off, which is the default, and a Part dissolves: the chapter folders inside it come through as ordinary top-level chapters, and the Part's own name survives only if it held loose text of its own. Turn the toggle on and every top-level Part becomes an act with those folders as its chapters; loose text sitting directly inside a Part becomes that act's first chapter. Empty Parts are skipped, and a top-level folder holding only text documents stays a regular chapter rather than becoming an act.

If you're weighing a move away from Scrivener more broadly, our Scrivener alternative guide walks through what actually changes day to day.

Download Writer Studio — free and import your first chapter in minutes.