XPS

Technology & Computing abbreviation · File Format

XPS
Stands forXML Paper Specification
CategoriesTechnology & Computing

XPS stands for XML Paper Specification, a file format abbreviation.

Microsoft's fixed-layout document format, introduced with Windows Vista in 2006 as an alternative to PDF. The built-in Microsoft XPS Document Writer printer still creates .xps or .oxps files on many Windows PCs.

Example: I accidentally printed to the XPS Document Writer instead of the real printer and got an .oxps file.

Usage notes

XPS stores pages as XML inside a ZIP package; a standardized version, OpenXPS, was published as ECMA-388 in 2009. It never gained wide adoption outside Windows, and since 2018 the XPS Viewer has been an optional feature that must be installed separately. Most users convert XPS files to PDF for sharing.

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