Change the default files save format from .docx to .doc in word 2007
Microsoft word is the mostly used out of all the Microsoft office 2007 applications, but I have seen people some times in a situation when they were cursing Microsoft Word 2007.
It happens when you have saved some important document while using microsoft word 2007 with .docx extension and taken that file some where else where office 2003 or any version later than office 2007 is installed and you cannot open .docx files.
As .docx is the new file format recognised only by office 2007, and office 2003 or later versions of office cannot open .docx word document files.
What is .docx?
It is the default file extension for saving documents in word 2007. These docx documents are essentially a bunch of zipped XML documents
Let’s see how can you change the default file save format to .doc which is widely supported in the backward version of office 2007.
1. Open Microsoft Word, click office icon at the top left.
2. Now, Click the Word Options
3. Select Save in the left pane, then select Word 97-2003 Documents from the drop down.
4. Click OK
We hope you like this small tweak, but if still you have a .docx files which you want to open in office 2003 or later version of office, try using some free web services like Zamzar.com or docxtodoc.com that can convert .docx files to .doc
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Author + Admin: Abhishek BhatnagarAbhishek Bhatnagar - Professional blogger by passion, Software Enggineer. I love to write about useful computer tips & tricks. Connect with me at twitter or on google+ profile or mail me at abhishek@technixmedia.com or know me more on www.abhishekbhatnagar.com
Nice tip !
[...] Compatibility Pack is, and you absolutely must switch back to saving your documents as .doc files, this Technix Update tutorial will guide you through reconfiguring the default file format in Word ‘07. Post a [...]
Brilliant and useful. Thanks for the post…
Spam
[...] with older versions of Word not being able to open your .DOCX files, weblog Technix Update explains how to change the default file format to .DOC when you save files in Word 2007. [...]
[...] with older versions of Word not being able to open your .DOCX files, weblog Technix Update explains how to change the default file format to .DOC. [...]
[...] Change the default files save format from .docx to .doc in word 2007 [...]
^oops, ignore that comment
it should say:
“As .docx is the new file format recognised only by office 2007, and office 2003 or earlier versions of office cannot open .docx word document files.”
Thanks for the tip.
If a file is already in *.docx format, one can install the “FileFormatConverters” program from Microsoft website which will convert *.docx files to *.doc, and you can open Word 2007 documents on earlier versions of Word too.
Here’s the link to the download page: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941B3470-3AE9-4AEE-8F43-C6BB74CD1466&displaylang=en
Thanks a lot for the post.
[...] with older versions of Word not being able to open your .DOCX files, weblog Technix Update explains how to change the default file format to .DOC when you save files in Word 2007. [...]
[...] I finally decided to look for an option to change the default save format in Word. The article at Technix Update reminded me of that and I thought it would be nice to post the quick tutorial as [...]
The free web service is not at docxtodoc.com. The correct URL is http://www.docx2doc.com/.
[...] Via: Technixupdate [...]
I have found in the past that this will default back to .docx files for no apparent reason. perhaps this has been fixed in a service pack as I have not seen the action in the last few weeks but it was bad earlier this year where it would default back to .docx and I would have to do these steps to have it default back to .doc.
Also I have setup the compatability pack on most other machines that I use that still have Office 2003 on them to make sure that everything will still open, compatability pack should be pushed through the enterprise as well if you have that option but are not upgrading to 2007 anytime soon
[...] I finally decided to look for an option to change the default save format in Word. The article at Technix Update reminded me of that and I thought it would be nice to post the quick tutorial as [...]
[...] Many thanks to technixupdate.com for this quick, easy, and helpful tip. Cuz loard knows, Windows is not my forté. [original] [...]
nice tip, thx
[...] Update explains how to change the default file format to .DOC in Word 2007! MyTop [...]
Awesome! Nice work!
my explorer started to save files in xls format. when i receive any document, lets say in .doc format in a mail and try to open or save (download) it on my pc, it saves in xls format….. any help? thanks.
My Question is how do I chang the save format when I go to this one web site, to download a file it opens by its self it won’t ask me to save it to my Pc but when I go to any music site it says do you want to save is there any way to get my pc to ask this all the time?
[...] with older versions of Word not being able to open your .DOCX files, weblog Technix Update explains how to change the default file format to .DOC when you save files in Word 2007. [...]
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I sent something to a magzin for publishing and they lady said the DocX was all greek! I had just gotten a new laptop with Vista and had no idea this existed. I’m resetting it to word.
thanks!
All of the default save format settings are profile-dependent, and can find no help on this issue, for multi-user computers. Each user that signs on must make these changes for themselves unless you want to initiate a GPO at the domain level. Any other ideas would be most welcome!!!
Thanks. I have a problem in this. After 3 or 4 days, the default save format changes back to *.docx. What could be the problem?
What a great tip. Easy when you know how. Thanks very much.
hello it is test. WinRAR provides the full RAR and ZIP file support, can decompress CAB, GZIP, ACE and other archive formats.
lpkuxuugbdpwixhkbhmjhpqwhmsrazzxwtnhello
The latest version OpenOffice.org suite of office applications will happily open the dreaded M$ xml docs. And it has an incredibly accurate, fast .pdf writer built into it. It is a 100% free office suite that allows you to open and save to the old Microsoft Office formats. Give it a try.
Thanks a lot for the tip..
It helped me a lot….thanks once again
[...] Read Also: Change the default files save format from .docx to .doc in word 2007 [...]
Hi,
But i have a question.
If you have older Word 2003, and you receive Docx file, now how are you going to change it back to doc on you computer without having to going online to convert it?
Plz reply at sinceredragon@gawab.com
thnx a bunch.
@Ron,
there is a office 2007 compatibility pack from Microsoft Available at
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=941b3470-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en
you need to install it once but it will work in the future for all 2007 documents obviously.
Hi
i have a problem in my computer 1st i istaled office 2003 and then make a file after some month i instaled office 2007 and when i open a my old file in office 2007 he canot open some error come in language ….. plz tell me salution of this problem
[...] Related - Change The Default Files Save Format From .docx To .doc [...]
Thank you very much for this tip!
After unsuccessfully trying to do this using the Group Policy Console (as described on Mydigitallife), I can’t believe it’s this easy!
Hello All,
I faced the similar issue. My company (Infosys) has got MS Office-2007 installed but my client (Novartis) has got Office-2002, so whenever I create a office document word (*.docx) or excel (*.xlsx) it doesnt open in the client’s network. The process mentioned above is feasible with 2-3 files, but what if the number of files is more than 100?
I tried the following method:
1. Start –> Run –> cmd
2. Goto the directory where files are stored.
3. Give command “rename *.docx *.doc” or “rename *.xlsx *.xls”, and this will change all the filetypes from MS Office-2007 to older one.
Thanks,
VishalR
Hello All,
I faced the similar issue. My company (Infosys) has got MS Office-2007 installed but my client (Novartis) has got Office-2002, so whenever I create a office document word (*.docx) or excel (*.xlsx) it doesnt open in the client’s network. The process mentioned above is feasible with 2-3 files, but what if the number of files is more than 100?
I tried the following method:
1. Start –> Run –> cmd
2. Goto the directory where files are stored.
3. Give command “rename *.docx *.doc” or “rename *.xlsx *.xls”, and this will change all the filetypes from MS Office-2007 to older one.
Thanks,
VishalR
@vishal – These are default options – once you save them like this – all the files will be automatically saved in old word format
Thanks this is great ! …
I panicked a bit after being asked to resend a CV that couldn’t be opened ! …. how many people couldn’t open my CV and just deleted it. I have been sending them out for months on Word 2007.
Thanks again
thanks ur suggestion solve my problem thanks again……
superb dear
This is a very useful tip, especially if you need to open files created in Office 2007 in some of the older versions, such as Office 2003. It is a very well-written tutorial. By the way you can read more about Microsoft Word at my Microsoft Word Free Download web site.