Where XPS files come from
XPS (XML Paper Specification) arrived with Windows Vista in 2006. Windows has long included a virtual printer called Microsoft XPS Document Writer: choose it in any print dialog and, instead of paper, you get an .xps file that looks exactly like the printout. Many people pick it by accident when they meant “Microsoft Print to PDF”, which is why so many invoices, bank statements, tickets and forms turn up as XPS.
XPS and OXPS: what’s the difference?
In 2009 the format was standardised by Ecma as OpenXPS (ECMA-388). Windows 8 and later can save the standard version, with the extension .oxps. The two are almost identical inside: zip packages of pages described in XML, with their fonts and pictures. This page opens both.
Why won’t my XPS file open?
Windows 10 (since 2018) and Windows 11 don’t install the XPS Viewer by default, macOS has never read XPS, and phones, Chromebooks and browsers can’t open it either. The file is fine; there’s just nothing installed that reads it. Drop it in the box above and it opens here, in your browser.
Is XPS the same as PDF?
No, but it does the same job: every page looks the same wherever it’s opened. PDF won, so most people now want to turn their XPS into a PDF. The Download PDF button does that, keeping the pages vector-sharp and the text searchable.
More: Open an XPS file on Windows 11 · Convert XPS to PDF, privately · Open an OXPS file and save it as PDF