How to open InfoPath forms (.xml) and templates (.xsn) without InfoPath

What Microsoft has retired, and when

Microsoft's own pages say:

• InfoPath 2013 is the last version. Microsoft's SharePoint team says it announced this in 2014 (Support update for InfoPath Forms Services in Microsoft 365).
• Support for InfoPath 2013 ended on 14 July 2026 (Microsoft Lifecycle). After the end of support there are no more security updates, other updates or assisted support (products ending support in 2026).
• SharePoint Online: Microsoft said InfoPath Forms Services would be removed for all tenants after 14 July 2026, with no option to extend it. For forms that were not migrated, it says the templates (.xsn) and the collected forms (.xml) can be downloaded from SharePoint.
• SharePoint Server: InfoPath Forms Services was supported in SharePoint Server Subscription Edition until 14 July 2026 and is not supported after that date (deprecated features). SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019 reached the end of support on the same day.
• What Microsoft recommends: moving forms and workflows to supported Microsoft 365 solutions, such as Power Apps, Power Automate or Forms. These are for building replacement forms; the pages we checked do not offer them as a way to read archived ones.

So an archive usually comes down to a set of .xml forms and the .xsn templates they were filled in from.

What a form (.xml) and a template (.xsn) are

• The form (.xml) holds what someone filled in: field values, repeating rows, attachments and pictures. Attachments and pictures are stored inside it as base64 text. An mso-infoPathSolution line at the top names the template the form is based on (Microsoft's format specification).
• The template (.xsn) is a cabinet (.cab) file that packs the design (About form template components): manifest.xsf, the form definition that lists everything else; the XML schema (.xsd); and one or more views (.xsl) that turn the data into the form people saw.

The layout, labels and formatting live in the template, not in the form. That is why a form .xml on its own looks like a list of tags.

Option 1: open the .xml in a browser or text editor (free)

Any XML file opens in Edge or Notepad. You see the field names and values, which can be enough to look up one detail in one form. You do not see the form: no layout or labels, dates and amounts as they are stored, and attachments and pictures as long blocks of encoded text. For hundreds of forms, or a record you must hand over, it is not practical.

Option 2: InfoPath, if it is still installed

On a PC where InfoPath 2013 is still installed, Microsoft's help says that opening a form's .xml file opens it in the environment for filling out forms (Design a form template). It is the program the forms were made for. But it has had no security updates since 14 July 2026, and Microsoft recommends moving away from it.

Option 3: look inside a template with Windows' expand command (free)

Because an .xsn is a cabinet file, Windows' expand command can unpack it. Make an empty folder, then run this in a Command Prompt with your own paths:

expand "D:\Forms\Expense Report.xsn" -F:* "D:\Forms\Expense Report files"

You get manifest.xsf, the schema, the views and any other files in the template. That shows which fields a form has and how it was built, which helps IT staff, but it is still not a readable form: InfoPath views call InfoPath's own functions for formatting, dates and data, and only work where those are supplied.

Option 4: Formwright ($39.99)

Formwright is a Windows app from Karelia Labs that makes archived InfoPath forms readable again, one form at a time or whole folder trees. You do not need InfoPath, Office or a SharePoint server.

• Each form through its own template. You see the layout, labels, tables, check boxes, option buttons, drop-down values, pictures and formatted dates, numbers and currency the template defines. Formwright supplies the functions InfoPath views call (formatting, math, dates, secondary data and pictures), and you can switch between a template's views.
• Automatic matching. Forms are matched to their templates by the solution id in mso-infoPathSolution, then by the template file name, then by the root namespace. You tell Formwright once where your templates are.
• No template? A generic layout shows every field with readable names, groups as sections and repeating groups as tables, so no data is left out.
• Exports: PDF, Word (.docx) and single-file HTML for each form, in the same sub-folders; one Excel workbook with a row per form and each repeating group (expense lines, tasks, attachments) on its own sheet; and all attachments and pictures saved as files.
• Whole folder trees with progress and Cancel, a CSV report of every file (template, view, result, and the reason when something could not be done), and resume where a stopped run left off.
• Search and data dictionary: search all forms in a folder by field value, or within one field, and list a template's fields, types, required and repeating fields and controls as CSV or Excel.
• Read-only and offline: it never runs template code or data connections and never changes your files. Form content is shown with scripts off and nothing loaded from the internet. There is no account and no telemetry.

1. Install Formwright, then drop forms, a template or a whole folder on its window, or use Open or Open folder.
2. When it asks, point it to the folder with your .xsn templates. It remembers the folder.
3. Pick a form to see it, and switch views if the template has more than one.
4. To convert an archive, choose the formats and an output folder and start. Then read the CSV report for any form that could not be done.

Formwright costs $39.99 in the Microsoft Store and runs on Windows 10 version 2004 (build 19041) or later and Windows 11, 64-bit. Its bundled sample forms show how it works before you open your own. Get it from Microsoft Store.

What to expect

• Tested with forms made to InfoPath's formats, not with files saved by InfoPath. No InfoPath installation was available to us, so Formwright was tested with templates and forms written to match the InfoPath file formats. Real templates vary, so check a few of your own forms before you convert a whole archive.
• Template code and data connections never run. When a view needs something that cannot work offline, Formwright says so next to the form, and you can always switch to the generic layout. InfoPath functions it does not know give empty values and are listed for you.
• Signatures are shown, not verified. A digital signature block shows who signed and when, always marked as not verified.
• Forms without their template are shown in the generic layout: all the data, but not the original design.
• WebView2 is needed for the form preview and the PDF. The Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime is included in Windows 11 and most Windows 10 PCs. If yours lacks it, Microsoft offers it at Download Microsoft Edge WebView2.

Microsoft's dates and recommendations are from Microsoft Lifecycle, Microsoft Learn, Microsoft Support and the Microsoft SharePoint blog, and the file format details from Microsoft's published InfoPath format specifications, all checked on 15 November 2026. Formwright was tested with templates and forms we made to the InfoPath file formats, not with files saved by InfoPath, because no InfoPath installation was available to us.