Convert Word to Markdown With Images Online

Word files often carry charts, screenshots and diagrams that matter as much as the text. When you move that content into Markdown, the text usually comes across easily, but the pictures can get left behind. You end up with a .md file full of image links that point nowhere, or with no image links at all. This is a common problem for people who write documentation, study notes, or project reports and want to publish them on a site or in a repository that reads Markdown.

This guide is for anyone who needs a Word document in Markdown form with its images intact. You will convert the file, make sure the pictures come with it, and set up the image links so they work wherever the Markdown is read. The method uses the UniDoc web editor at app.unidoc.top, along with a general technique for pulling images out of a Word file when an export does not include them.

How do you convert Word to Markdown with images? The short answer

Convert the file in an editor that works with both Word and Markdown, then store the exported image files in a folder next to the .md file and link to them with relative paths. If the export misses any pictures, take them directly from the .docx archive.

Your situation	What to do	Why
The Word file has a few screenshots	Export to Markdown, then confirm every image appears in the output folder	Small sets are easy to check by hand
The export creates no image folder	Extract the media files from the .docx and link them yourself	The pictures are still inside the original file
The document has diagrams or equations	Use an editor that supports Markdown diagrams and equations	Plain text export can flatten them into images or lose them
The Markdown will be published on a site	Use relative paths and keep images in the same project folder	Absolute paths from your computer break once the files move
You need to edit the text again later	Keep the .docx as the master and treat the Markdown as an output	Re-exporting from the master is easier than repairing Markdown by hand

Before you start

Gather a few things first. Each one prevents a problem that is hard to notice until you publish.

A clean copy of the Word file. Save a backup of the original .docx before you convert anything. If an export drops an image, you can go back to the source rather than guessing what was lost.
Access to the UniDoc web editor. Open app.unidoc.top in a browser. The editor works with Word-compatible documents and supports Markdown, so it fits this task.
A target folder. Decide where the Markdown project will live before you export. The image files need to sit beside the .md file, and moving them later means rewriting every link.
A list of the images in the document. Scroll through the Word file and note how many pictures it contains. You will compare this number against the output later.
A plan for file names. Give images simple names without spaces, such as figure1.png. Spaces and special characters can break links on some websites.

Converting a Word file to Markdown with images, step by step

Open the original .docx and review it. Look for any images that are anchored to text, placed inside tables, or floating over paragraphs. These are the ones most likely to be lost or moved during conversion.
Open the file in the UniDoc web editor. Upload the .docx at app.unidoc.top. Once it loads, confirm that every picture displays in the editor, because an image that is missing there will also be missing from the export.
Make any fixes before exporting. If a picture is the wrong size or in the wrong place, correct it in the editor now. Fixing the layout after conversion means editing Markdown by hand, which is slower and easier to get wrong.
Export the document as Markdown. Use the editor's Markdown option to save the file. Save it into the folder you prepared, so the .md file and any exported assets stay together.
Check for an images folder. Look in the export for a folder or set of files containing the pictures. If you see one, note its name, because the image links in the Markdown should point to it.
Extract any missing images from the .docx. If the export produced no image files, rename a copy of the .docx so it ends in .zip, then open the archive. The pictures are stored in a folder named word/media. Copy them into an images folder beside your Markdown file.
Set up the image links with relative paths. Each picture needs a link made of an exclamation mark, alt text in square brackets, and the file path in parentheses, such as the path images/figure1.png written from the Markdown file's own folder. Relative paths work when the project moves to another computer or a web server. Absolute paths that begin with a drive letter or a full file path will break on any other machine.
Write descriptive alt text. Put a short description between the square brackets of each image link. It helps readers who use screen readers, and it shows what the image should be if the file fails to load.

Check the result

Open the finished Markdown in a viewer that renders images, then go through the list below. Doing this once with every new conversion is quicker than discovering a broken picture after you publish.

Check	How to see it	If it's wrong
Every image appears	Count the pictures in the rendered Markdown and compare with your list from the Word file	Extract the missing media from the .docx archive and add the links
Links resolve	Look for placeholder boxes or broken-image icons in the preview	Correct the path so it matches the file name and folder exactly
Paths are relative	Search the .md file for a drive letter or a full file path	Replace the path with a path relative to the Markdown file
Order and captions match	Compare the sequence of images with the Word file, section by section	Move the image links so each picture sits next to the text it belongs with
Tables and equations survive	Read the rendered tables and check any formulas against the original	Rebuild the table in Markdown syntax, or keep the equation as an image
Text is accurate	Read the converted paragraphs against the original	Correct wording by hand; check any machine-generated changes against the source

After you finish the checks, keep the .docx and the Markdown folder together in one project. If you ever need to update the document, you can repeat the export and the image steps without starting over.

❓ FAQ

1. Will the images keep their original quality?

The image files should be the same pictures that were stored in the Word file, since the extraction method copies them directly from the archive. Quality changes only if an export recompresses or resizes the pictures. Compare a file from the word/media folder with the one in your Markdown folder to confirm they match.

2. Why do my images show as broken links after I move the files?

The links probably point to a path that exists only on your original computer. Switch them to relative paths, where the image path starts from the Markdown file's own location, and keep the images folder next to the .md file when you move the project.

3. Can I convert a scanned PDF with images to Markdown the same way?

The method above starts from a .docx file, so it does not apply directly to a scanned PDF. If you need text from a scanned PDF, you can use OCR in the OmniDoc PDF editor, which is part of the desktop client, to make the text selectable first. Then copy the text into your Word file or Markdown and add the images separately.

4. Do equations and charts convert cleanly?

Simple equations and charts often come across as images, which you can keep as image links. Complex equations or charts that need to stay editable may need rebuilding in Markdown or in a format that supports them. The UniDoc editor supports equations and Markdown diagrams, so check those sections closely in the rendered output.

📝 Summary

Converting a Word file to Markdown with images works well when you export the text, collect the image files into a folder beside the .md file, and link to them with relative paths. Keep the original .docx as your master copy, so you can re-export whenever a picture goes missing. Once you have checked each image in the rendered output, your Markdown is ready to publish.

Open OmniDoc to edit Markdown and export to Word