Surely sometime reviewing our team We have been able to observe that the files on our computer have different extensions that are indicated at the end of it and that vary according to the type of file in question (images, documents, spreadsheets, music, among others).
You may have also seen the .docx extensionwhich is nothing more than default format in which Microsoft Word saves its files.
If you still don’t know what a .docx file is and what its use is, you will surely learn it after reading this post, which among other things will also teach you how to open these files with different programs and what are the differences of this type of files with those of its predecessor (.doc).
What is and what are files with the .docx extension used for?
Files with the DOCX extension are files based on the XML format, They can contain various separate elements in different formats, but can be stored within the same file.
This extension is what Microsoft Word uses by default to save its files since 2007, while older versions use the DOC extension. These files are usually text documents in a certain style or format that can contain various objects in it.
Usually, DOCX files are used to replace conventional documents in the midst of the digital age, thus managing to adapt the advances of technology to the needs of companies, institutions and human beings.
How to open .docx files on smartphones or computers?
Once you know what they are, It is important that we know how we can access them from the different platforms on computers or mobile devices.
On Windows PC or Mac
if you use Windows, the application par excellence to open DOCX files It is without a doubt the famous Microsoft Office Word. To open your files on a Windows computer you will simply have to locate it and double-click on the file.
Another way to do it is by opening the program, for this we go to:
- “Start Menu” > “All Programs” > “Microsoft Office” > “Word”
- We wait for the program to load
- We are going to “File” > “Open” > “Computer” > “Browse”
- There you locate the folder and select the file you want to open.
although in macOS to have Microsoft Word you have to buy it and it is usually quite expensive, there are alternatives to open our DOCX files without problems.
To open our document on MacOS we will use a free word processor called TextEdit. The first step will be to use the key combination “Cmd (⌘) + Shift + A” from the desktop to show the list of applications and from them we will open TextEdit by double clicking.
Once we have opened TexEdit we will go to the option “File” > “Open” and select the document with DOCX extension that we want to open.
On Android and iOS mobile phones
Yes, we already know that our needs are expanding and that we not only need to open text documents on our computers, but we want them to be within reach of our mobile devices. For this reason too We will tell you how to open these DOCX files on Android or iOS.
In the case of Android You can choose from a wide variety of office applications that will allow you to view and edit your files with DOCX extension quickly and easily. We can choose between OfficeSuite or WPS Office, to name a few programs. It’s as simple as installing the application, opening the word processor that includes one of these apps and from there opening the file we want.
We can also use Microsoft Office Mobile as long as we use a mobile device, since this app developed by Microsoft is not available for tablets.
If we use devices iOS we have at our disposal the possibility of using a native Apple program like Pages or we can pay to use the premium version of Docs To Go.
List of the best applications and alternative programs to open a document with a .Docx extension without using Word or Microsoft Offices
Yes, Microsoft Word is great but it is quite expensive. Although it is the most widely used, it is not necessary to have only this one for open DOCX files. Currently there is a wide variety of word processors that serve as an alternative to the program developed by the giant of the computer age.
Below we will show you some of the programs with which you can open your documents with a DOCX extension in a completely simple way:
LibreOffice Writer
Writer is the name given to the open source word processor of the LibreOffice program that it can be used on Linux, Windows or MacOS. Without a doubt, it is one of the best alternatives to Microsoft Word to open our files with a DOCX or DOC extension.
Open Office Writer
Although LibreOffice has displaced it, OpenOffice is still a very good alternative and your Writer word processor is adequate for us to open our files DOCX on our computer.
WPS Writer
Although the popularity of WPS Office has been given in its version for mobile devices is also at our disposal so that on our computer let’s have this great office application. Your word processor is a pretty good choice for opening files with a DOCX extension.
AbiWord
Perhaps it is not the best option in terms of word processors and since it is outdated for Windows, we may not find the same functions in it as in Microsoft Word. But, this open source program also It will come in handy if we want to open and edit our DOCX files.
Google Docs
One of the best options that we have at our disposal is undoubtedly the Google function that allows us to save, view and edit files in the cloud. We will only have to enter Google Drive and access with our Gmail account. There we will have the opportunity to upload the documents we want or create a new one.
word online
Finally, we also have the possibility of using the tool, which unlike the desktop version, it is totally free. Although this option is not as fast as Google Docs or the Microsoft Word application for our computer, it is an important alternative if we want to open our DOCX files.
What are the differences between .Doc and .Docx files? Can they be converted?
The difference between los and DOCX goes beyond appending a letter at the end. After the universal use of the DOC format for a long time, Microsoft decided to develop files based on Extensible Markup Language (XML) as a step forward in the face of increasing pressure from the popularity of OpenOffice, its open source competitor.
Consequently, the DOC format was replaced by DOCX in the 2007 version of Microsoft Word, at the same time as XLS by XLSX in Excel and PPT by PPTX in the case of Power Point.
Nowadays, there are not many reasons to continue using DOC extension files, except in the case that we want to recover an old file or that we have a very outdated word processor, which could be the case with previous versions of Word.
If for some reason we want convert a DOCX file to DOC we will simply have to open it in Word or any other of the word processors that we have mentioned above and use the function “File” > “Save as”, selecting DOC as the new format.
Nevertheless, you don’t absolutely need to convert the file since Microsoft already allows us to download and install on our computer an add-on for old versions of Office that will allow us to open and edit these DOCX files. Great right?
If you still prefer to convert the file and you don’t have one of the aforementioned word processors at hand, you can have some specialized software to convert these files like Docx2rtf or through online services like Zamzar.com so you can open your file even if you have an old version of Microsoft Word.
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