diff --git a/win-linux/CMakeLists.txt b/win-linux/CMakeLists.txt
index b256bacdf..8fc75c4d8 100644
--- a/win-linux/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/win-linux/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -162,6 +162,7 @@ set(COMMON_HEADERS
     src/cascapplicationmanagerwrapper_private.h
     src/casctabdata.h
     src/utils.h
+    src/docautomation.h
     src/chelp.h
     src/cfilechecker.h
     src/clogger.h
@@ -182,6 +183,7 @@ set(COMMON_HEADERS
 set(COMMON_SOURCES
     src/prop/cmainwindowimpl.cpp
     src/prop/utils.cpp
+    src/docautomation.cpp
     src/windows/cmainwindow.cpp
     src/windows/cwindowbase.cpp
     src/windows/ceditorwindow.cpp
diff --git a/win-linux/src/chelp.cpp b/win-linux/src/chelp.cpp
index c359d240c..67d3b2c16 100644
--- a/win-linux/src/chelp.cpp
+++ b/win-linux/src/chelp.cpp
@@ -58,7 +58,9 @@ void CHelp::out()
         "    --unlock-portals disable forced hiding of the Connect to the cloud button on the start page"
         "    --updates-appcast-channel=dev set development URL for updates\n"
         "    --updates-interval=<time> set update check interval in seconds (minimum 30 sec)\n"
-        "    --updates-reset reset all update options\n";
+        "    --updates-reset reset all update options\n"
+        "    <input-file> --convert-to=path/to/output.ext convert a document without starting the UI\n"
+        "    <input-file> --print-to-file=path/to/output.pdf render a document to PDF without starting the UI\n";
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
     FILE *pFile = NULL;
diff --git a/win-linux/src/docautomation.cpp b/win-linux/src/docautomation.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..967245dec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/win-linux/src/docautomation.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Euro-Office contributors
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+ */
+
+#include "docautomation.h"
+#include "defines.h"
+#include "utils.h"
+#include "applicationmanager.h"
+#include "x2t.h"
+#include "common/File.h"
+#include "common/Directory.h"
+#include "common/StringBuilder.h"
+
+#include <iostream>
+
+namespace {
+    std::wstring GetFlagValue(const std::wstring& flag) {
+        return InputArgs::contains(flag) ? InputArgs::argument_value(flag) : L"";
+    }
+
+    // First non-flag argument is treated as the input file path.
+    std::wstring GetInputFileArg() {
+        for (const auto& arg : InputArgs::arguments()) {
+            if (arg.rfind(L"--", 0) != 0) {
+                return arg;
+            }
+        }
+        return L"";
+    }
+}
+
+bool NSDocAutomation::ShouldRun() {
+    return InputArgs::contains(L"--convert-to") || InputArgs::contains(L"--print-to-file");
+}
+
+int NSDocAutomation::Run() {
+    bool bPrintToFile = InputArgs::contains(L"--print-to-file");
+    std::wstring sOutput = bPrintToFile ? GetFlagValue(L"--print-to-file") : GetFlagValue(L"--convert-to");
+    std::wstring sInput = GetInputFileArg();
+
+    if (sInput.empty() || sOutput.empty()) {
+        std::wcerr << L"Usage: DesktopEditors <input-file> --convert-to=<output-file>" << std::endl;
+        std::wcerr << L"       DesktopEditors <input-file> --print-to-file=<output-file.pdf>" << std::endl;
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    if (!NSFile::CFileBinary::Exists(sInput)) {
+        std::wcerr << L"Input file not found: " << sInput << std::endl;
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    // --print-to-file is an alias for --convert-to that forces PDF output,
+    // since x2t's PDF export is already what "Print" ultimately produces.
+    if (bPrintToFile) {
+        std::wstring sPdfExt = L".pdf";
+        if (sOutput.length() < sPdfExt.length() ||
+            0 != sOutput.compare(sOutput.length() - sPdfExt.length(), sPdfExt.length(), sPdfExt)) {
+            sOutput += sPdfExt;
+        }
+    }
+
+    // A plain CAscApplicationManager, not the QObject-based GUI singleton
+    // (AscAppManager::getInstance()) -- that one installs Qt event filters
+    // in its constructor and crashes without a live QCoreApplication, which
+    // doesn't exist yet at this point (before any CEF/Qt startup).
+    CAscApplicationManager oManager;
+    QString sUserDataPath = Utils::getUserPath() + APP_DATA_PATH;
+    oManager.m_oSettings.SetUserDataPath(sUserDataPath.toStdWString());
+    std::wstring sAppPath = NSFile::GetProcessDirectory();
+    oManager.m_oSettings.file_converter_path = sAppPath + L"/converter";
+
+    // Normal startup builds the font cache via CheckFonts() before any document
+    // is touched; this path skips that startup sequence entirely, so on a
+    // profile that has never run the GUI (fresh install, container, CI) the
+    // AllFonts.js referenced below wouldn't exist yet. Block on it here.
+    oManager.CheckFonts(false);
+
+    std::wstring sTempDir = NSDirectory::CreateDirectoryWithUniqueName(NSFile::CFileBinary::GetTempPath());
+
+    // Formats are left for x2t to detect from the file extensions, the same
+    // way its own `x2t <from> <to>` mode does.
+    NSStringUtils::CStringBuilder oBuilder;
+    oBuilder.WriteString(L"<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\"?><TaskQueueDataConvert><m_sFileFrom>");
+    oBuilder.WriteEncodeXmlString(sInput);
+    oBuilder.WriteString(L"</m_sFileFrom><m_sFileTo>");
+    oBuilder.WriteEncodeXmlString(sOutput);
+    oBuilder.WriteString(L"</m_sFileTo><m_sFontDir>");
+    oBuilder.WriteEncodeXmlString(oManager.m_oSettings.fonts_cache_info_path);
+    oBuilder.WriteString(L"</m_sFontDir><m_sAllFontsPath>");
+    oBuilder.WriteEncodeXmlString(oManager.m_oSettings.fonts_cache_info_path + L"/AllFonts.js");
+    oBuilder.WriteString(L"</m_sAllFontsPath><m_sTempDir>");
+    oBuilder.WriteEncodeXmlString(sTempDir);
+    oBuilder.WriteString(L"</m_sTempDir></TaskQueueDataConvert>");
+
+    // The ".xml" suffix is load-bearing: x2t only parses its argument as a
+    // TaskQueueDataConvert file when the name ends in ".xml" (see
+    // X2tConverter/src/main.cpp). Anything else is taken as the first of a
+    // bare `x2t <from> <to>` pair, leaving the destination empty and failing
+    // with "Empty sFileFrom or sFileTo".
+    std::wstring sTempName = NSFile::CFileBinary::CreateTempFileWithUniqueName(NSFile::CFileBinary::GetTempPath(), L"CLI");
+    if (NSFile::CFileBinary::Exists(sTempName))
+        NSFile::CFileBinary::Remove(sTempName);
+    std::wstring sXmlPath = sTempName + L".xml";
+    NSFile::CFileBinary::SaveToFile(sXmlPath, oBuilder.GetData(), true);
+
+    int nReturnCode = NSX2T::Convert(oManager.m_oSettings.file_converter_path + L"/x2t", sXmlPath, &oManager, true);
+
+    NSFile::CFileBinary::Remove(sXmlPath);
+    NSDirectory::DeleteDirectory(sTempDir);
+
+    if (0 == nReturnCode) {
+        std::wcout << L"OK: " << sOutput << std::endl;
+    } else {
+        std::wcerr << L"Conversion failed (x2t exit code " << nReturnCode << L")" << std::endl;
+    }
+
+    return nReturnCode;
+}
diff --git a/win-linux/src/docautomation.h b/win-linux/src/docautomation.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..313bcc4bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/win-linux/src/docautomation.h
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Euro-Office contributors
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+ */
+
+#ifndef DOCAUTOMATION_H
+#define DOCAUTOMATION_H
+
+// Handles the --convert-to and --print-to-file CLI flags by shelling out to
+// the packaged x2t converter, without starting CEF/Qt UI. --print-to-file is
+// an alias for --convert-to that forces PDF output, since x2t's PDF export is
+// already what "Print" ultimately produces.
+namespace NSDocAutomation {
+    bool ShouldRun();
+    int Run();
+}
+
+#endif // DOCAUTOMATION_H
diff --git a/win-linux/src/main.cpp b/win-linux/src/main.cpp
index 271f9e08c..0562e89d2 100644
--- a/win-linux/src/main.cpp
+++ b/win-linux/src/main.cpp
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
 #include "utils.h"
 #include "chelp.h"
 #include "common/File.h"
+#include "docautomation.h"
 #include <QStyleFactory>
 
 
@@ -65,6 +66,9 @@ int main( int argc, char *argv[] )
         return 0;
     }
 #endif
+    if ( NSDocAutomation::ShouldRun() ) {
+        return NSDocAutomation::Run();
+    }
 #if QT_VERSION >= QT_VERSION_CHECK(6, 0, 0)
     qputenv("QT_ENABLE_HIGHDPI_SCALING", "0");
 #else
diff --git a/win-linux/src/utils.cpp b/win-linux/src/utils.cpp
index b085c854c..2bbd067c3 100644
--- a/win-linux/src/utils.cpp
+++ b/win-linux/src/utils.cpp
@@ -114,8 +114,12 @@ namespace InputArgs {
 
     auto argument_value(const std::wstring& param) -> std::wstring {
         for (const auto& item: in_args) {
-            if ( item.find(param) != std::wstring::npos ) {
-                return item.substr(param.size() + 1); // substring after '=' or ':' symbol
+            auto n = item.find(param);
+            if ( n != std::wstring::npos ) {
+                auto value_pos = n + param.size() + 1; // position after '=' or ':' symbol
+                if ( value_pos <= item.length() )
+                    return item.substr(value_pos);
+                return L"";
             }
         }