Working for the business of building and architecture, IT network, human resources, project planning, etc., you may need to deal with Visio diagrams very often. However, if you are on a Mac or your don’t have Microsoft Visio installed, you may wondering is it possible to open a VSDX/VSD file without Visio?
If you’re searching for a Visio alternative that can open a VSDX file, you can find the best solution in this guide. The following 5 simple methods and video guide will show you how to open Visio files without Microsoft Visio in detail.
Cisdem Document Reader
Free Download macOS 10.10 or later
A Visio file, which comes with extensions of .vsd, .vsdx, .vdx, etc., is the native file format of drawings created by Microsoft Visio program. It contains texts, data, visual objects, flow charts, diagrams, etc. and is widely used to create lively visualizations for diagramming, modeling…
It has a lot of benefits: present ideas visually and clearly, add interactive elements, view drawings on different devices without fidelity issue, collaborate on diagrams easily, convenient to share, etc. And this the reason why Visio format has a long history but still popular nowadays.
Microsoft Visio is widely viewed as the best way to open a Visio file, because it creates Visio files itself. However, there are a lot of people looking for solutions to view their Visio files without using Microsoft Visio. Why? Here is a list of its possible reasons:
All these reasons push users for an alternative to open Visio files without Microsoft Visio. And you just come to the right place.
Cisdem Document Reader is the best program to open Visio files without MS Visio on Mac. It can read multiple windows-based document types, including Visio, DjVu, WordPerfect, WPS, XPS, OXPS, Winmail.dat and PDF. Cisdem Document Reader loads files quickly and smoothly, renders the diagrams, charts and layouts the same as original.
You can find the reasons why Cisdem Document Reader is picked as follows:
It can open and view all kinds of Visio format, including vsdx, vsd, vdx, etc.
Cisdem Document Reader open both small and large Visio files quickly, it loads files instantly right after drag&drop and opens multiple Visio files under different tabs, you can just switch between different Visio files to compare or fetch wanted information.
It offers a full set of tools to read files as you want. You can use the Thumbnails, page-by-page or two-page view mode, zoom in or out, turn to first/last or previous/next page, and rotate clockwise or counterclockwise.
The opened Visio file will be as clear and intact as it was originally created in MS Visio program. You can find all the details.
To use the Visio files for other purposes, you can convert them to PDF, Text, PNG, JPEG, BMP, GIF and TIFF.
Cisdem Document Reader also allows users to bookmark, print, search, even extract images from the Visio, without opening a 3rd-party software.
I was pleasantly surprised at the clean, distraction-free viewing window of DocumentReader. It is the tool that can open VSD and VSDX files without Visio. The features are simple and the app is very easy to use. I love that you can open multiple documents at one time and that they open within a separate tab. - Robyn from MacSources.com
Free Download macOS 10.10 or later 
Also, you can watch the YouTube video to open Visio files with Cisdem.
So, you’ve decided to start with tools in Chrome to view Visio file without Visio. That’s entirely understandable, because they are free to use and you don’t have to download and install a 3rd-party Visio viewer. Compared with dedicated software like Cisdem Document Reader, browser-based viewers require you to upload your file, so the privacy issue is especially important if you’re working with sensitive and private files.
Which tool should you use to view Visio files in Chrome? Don’t worry, we are here to help.
Lucidchart is an online workspace to view, create, edit and share Visio, Gliffy, Draw.io, Omnigraffle files. It offers hundreds to thousands of customizable templates to create unique diagrams. Also, you can turn Visio files to Lucidchart shapes for further editing.
To open Visio files with Lucidchart only, you can try the Free plan first. The paid plans, like Individual, Team, Enterprise license will give you full access to all features but differ in Integrations module and templates.
Pros: Provide Visio viewing tools like: zoom, conditional formatting, layers, canvas, snap to objects, grid, margins, show notes/comments/rulers, etc.
Cons: Lucidchart need some time to load and display a Visio file, even though the file is not large in file size.
If you want to view the Visio file in full screen mode, or want to print it out effortlessly, Groupdocs is a solution that comes in handy.
Groupdocs has the same procedure to open and view Visio files online, you need to upload the file first, it will delete your files within 24 hours.
ASPOSE provides an easy way to open Visio files in your web browser, like in Google Chrome, you can add it as a plug-in or directly open the files on the website.
You can upload VSD, VSDX, VSX, VTX, VDX, VSSX, VSTX and all Visio files for reading. Though it doesn’t offer various tools to give users an outstanding reading experience, it has extended features, users are allows to download Visio files as PDF, PNG, SVG, XPS, HTML, DOCX, PPTX.
However, we don't recommend upload private or highly confidential Visio files to open in ASPOSE Visio viewer, it may cause information leakage, all the uploaded files would be saved online for some time.
I tried to search for offline tools to open Visio (VSDX, VSD, VDX) files without MS Visio on Windows too, but most of Windows Visio viewers discontinue to update and won’t run on my Windows PC, possibly for the reason that MS Visio is dominant in this filed and others cannot rival MS Visio at all. However, we are still lucky to have several tools available to open Visio files without Visio program on both Mac and Windows PC.
As you can see from the methods above, Cisdem Document Reader can be your best choice to open VSDX file without Visio. It support all Visio formats, load files in batches and quickly, present files beautifully, supports print or convert Visio files to PDF or images and it also supports viewing other file formats like WPD, WPS, DJVU, XPS/OXPS, Winmail.dat, etc. So, don’t hesitate to give Document Reader a free try now.
Bianca is a senior tech editor and strategist at Cisdem with Over 10 years of experience on PDF related solutions which covers all document editing, annotating, converting and managing etc.
Robert Krouse
Cisdem Document Reader is a good app, but for now, online viewer is the best choice for me, just in the middle of struggling, tough times in my life.