Mac "doc" files won't open in MSWord

[fbx89]

Please help. I have not been paying attention. My years of "doc" files, from notes to novels, are all in "doc" format. Won't open in current Word 16;78 appaarently I need to convert to ----.docx files. Heaven help me. Have seen some discussion of going through another app to get the conversion, but am dubious.

Crazy in Montana

 

[Rod]

fbx89, in my experience MS Word has always been backwards compatible with earlier Word documents as per the example below.
I'm using the same version of MS Word as you, 16;78
Note; the default application in the Info Window is always set to open these types of files with MS Word.
At the bottom of the same window also check that Permissions are set to allow you to Read & Write.



As far as I can see there is no need to "convert" the .doc to .docx but if you did wish to do so you can simply choose the .docx format in the File > Save As Menu.



So, right click on the doc in a finder window and select Get Info and check that MS Word is set to open that and all files same as that. Let us know what happens.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Please help. I have not been paying attention. My years of "doc" files, from notes to novels, are all in "doc" format. Won't open in current Word 16;78 appaarently I need to convert to ----.docx files. Heaven help me. Have seen some discussion of going through another app to get the conversion, but am dubious.

Word is fully backwards compatible with .doc files. All of my thousands of Word files are in .doc format, and they open fine. Do this:

- Open Word
- In the File menu choose Open...
- In the Open dialog window navigate to the file that you want to open
- Choose it by clicking once on it
- Click on the Open button

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Here you go:

3 Quick Ways to Batch Convert Word DOC to DOCX Files and Vice Versa

In this article, there are 3 quick ways to help you with batch converting Word doc to docx files and vice versa.

www.datanumen.com

 

[Rod]

Either way, if this isn't working for you fbx89, just let us know what you are doing an we'll try to solve the issue.

 

[Jimmysb]

Just to agree I am also running 16:78, and my documents are in both formats and both open without issue.

 

[fbx89]

Hello and OK, today I feel like a nut. Have some just spent time clicking on various older .doc files and every one of them showed up like clockwork.

Yesterday I had one that didn't work but I can't find it now.
Running MS Word 16:28 on a 27" iMac some years old.

 

[Rod]

So, all's well then? Obviously old files can be come corrupted over time perhapes you were just unlucky and picked a damaged file?

 

[Randy B. Singer]

So, all's well then? Obviously old files can be come corrupted over time perhapes you were just unlucky and picked a damaged file?

Really old .doc files are considered a security risk for some reason by Microsoft. So, they have made it so that they can't be opened by double-clicking them. They have to be opened from within Word, as I outlined earlier in this thread. This isn't a bug. It's exactly the way Microsoft intends it.

 

[fbx89]

Seems like everything's fine. I click on doc files and they open in current version of word. Can't explain the problem I had originally. If I can repeat it, which I have not been able to do, will return . . .

And thanks to all who replied. Great site, this one.

 

[Slydude]

Really old .doc files are considered a security risk for some reason by Microsoft. So, they have made it so that they can't be opened by double-clicking them. They have to be opened from within Word, as I outlined earlier in this thread. This isn't a bug. It's exactly the way Microsoft intends it.

I wonder if this is a result of/response to some MS macro-related malware that was floating around years ago. IIRC there was a piece of anti-malware software called Disinfectant at the time. They were unable to detect/keep up with the number of macros that might be malware and decided to sunset the program.

Disinfectant (software) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I wonder if this is a result of/response to some MS macro-related malware that was floating around years ago. IIRC there was a piece of anti-malware software called Disinfectant at the time. They were unable to detect/keep up with the number of macros that might be malware and decided to sunset the program.

Disinfectant (software) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

No. Word has had "Macro Virus Protection" built in for close to two decades now. See:

tps://kb.iu.du/d/agzk (outdated link removed)

Protect yourself from macro viruses - Microsoft Support

Disenfectant was the premier anti-virus tool for the Macintosh back during the classic (pre-OS X) days. It was free and effective. That was over 20 years ago.

I'm not entirely sure what the security issue is that Microsoft is looking out for by not letting really old .doc files be opened with a double-click. In the Windows version of Word you can fix the problem using the Trust Center. There is no analog for the Macintosh.