A method for displaying an online document, wherein the method is applied to an instant messaging client and comprises: in response to receiving an interactive instruction for a first user inputted by a second user in the online document, generating (110, 510) an online document notification message in an instant messaging session list of the first user, wherein the interactive instruction for the first user inputted by the second user in the online document comprises that the second user mentions the first user by entering a specific symbol in the online document or that the second user mentions content published by the first user in the online document, wherein the second user mentions the content published by the first user in the online document comprises that the second user comments on, annotates, or modifies the content published by the first user in the online document; in response to receiving a triggering instruction for triggering the online document notification message, acquiring (120, 520) a target link address from a server providing services for the instant messaging client, wherein the target link address is a web page address of the online document; and opening (130, 530) the target link address in an instant messaging window of the instant messaging client through a document container, wherein the document container is a service integrated into a framework of the instant messaging client, and displaying the online document in the instant messaging window of the instant messaging client, wherein the service integrated into the framework of the instant messaging client is used for loading, rendering and displaying the online document; wherein the online document comprises a Word text, a txt text, or an Excel table. in response to receiving an interactive instruction for a first user inputted by a second user in the online document, generating (110, 510) an online document notification message in an instant messaging session list of the first user, wherein the interactive instruction for the first user inputted by the second user in the online document comprises that the second user mentions the first user by entering a specific symbol in the online document or that the second user mentions content published by the first user in the online document, wherein the second user mentions the content published by the first user in the online document comprises that the second user comments on, annotates, or modifies the content published by the first user in the online document; in response to receiving a triggering instruction for triggering the online document notification message, acquiring (120, 520) a target link address from a server providing services for the instant messaging client, wherein the target link address is a web page address of the online document; and opening (130, 530) the target link address in an instant messaging window of the instant messaging client through a document container, wherein the document container is a service integrated into a framework of the instant messaging client, and displaying the online document in the instant messaging window of the instant messaging client, wherein the service integrated into the framework of the instant messaging client is used for loading, rendering and displaying the online document; wherein the online document comprises a Word text, a txt text, or an Excel table.