Why the two-step path beats direct import

Google Docs' direct .docx import is a high-fidelity round-trip — which is sometimes the problem. It carries forward Word artefacts you didn't want (residual track-changes, font fallbacks where the original font wasn't available, layout columns that don't map cleanly). The two-step path (Word > Markdown > Google Docs) intentionally drops all of that: Markdown can't represent it, so it doesn't survive the conversion, so the resulting Doc starts clean.

Headings, lists, tables, bold/italic, and links survive the round-trip cleanly. Google Docs supports "Paste from Markdown" (recent versions auto-detect; older versions have an explicit menu option). The structural fidelity is high; the cosmetic noise is filtered.

The collaborative-review workflow

Convert the Word document on Word to Markdown. Copy the Markdown. Create a new Google Doc, paste — Docs renders the structured Markdown as a properly formatted document. Share with collaborators for comments and suggested edits. Use Suggestion mode for tracked-change editing without losing the original.

For multi-source collaborative editing: pair with PDF for Google Docs, URL for Google Docs, Audio for Google Docs, and Video for Google Docs. Every source modality lands in the same Docs-shaped surface for collaborative review.