Do you want to know more about the file formats you’re using to save your work? Are you confused about the differences between .DOC and .DOCX files? Do you want to clarify the purposes of the .DOCX or DOCX file extension?
In that case, it’s a good thing you got here. In this guide, we’ll explain everything you need to know about DOCX files. Keep reading to discover the answers to your questions.
1. What Is the DOCX File Extension?
Among the 1.5 billion Windows users, 1.2 billion of them use MS Word. If you’re one of the people who use it, you’ve likely encountered the various Word document file formats. Today, the default format for the documents you create is the .DOCX format.
A .DOCX or DOCX file is any document file created by word processing programs. These programs include Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, and OpenOffice Writer. They can be documents written as letters, resumes, newsletters, and more.
Everyone can use this document format or file extension. Various industries and practices use documents in the DOCX format. These areas include business, home, and academic fields.
DOCX files don’t only support and save the formatted text. It also includes images, drawn objects, tables, and other elements.
It’s a very efficient and popular successor to the .DOC format.
A Short History of the DOCX Format
Before the DOCX format, the most-used document format was the DOC extension. The DOC format has a long and successful history. For over 30 years, it was the iconic file extension exclusive to MS Word.
When Microsoft released the 2007 version of Word, it came with the Office Open XML. This included the extensions DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX. The basis of the new extensions was the Extensible Markup language.
This meant it allowed for more benefits. These new extensions became the default save formats for their respective programs. They weren’t popular choices at first since the older versions of MS Office programs couldn’t read the new XML formats.
However, after a decade, the DOCX is the standard file extension for Word documents. It isn’t as universal as the older DOC format. Yet, it remains as the go-to extension for those who use word processors.
2. Benefits of Using a DOCX File
Why did the DOCX extension rise to popularity? What improvements does it have that it’s more preferred than its predecessor? Let’s take a closer look at the differences between a DOCX file and a DOC file.
The Office Open XML gives files in DOCX some great benefits.
First, it saves in smaller file sizes. Now, you don’t have to worry about running out of memory space. It also helps a lot in sending files through emails.
Did you know that we sent 156 million emails in 2018 worldwide? In your opinion, how many of those emails contain documents sent in batches because they couldn’t all fit one email? Now, you can squeeze in more document files in an email because DOCX saves in smaller sizes.
The DOCX format also offers fewer risks of corruption. Another benefit of it is that it compresses images in higher quality. You don’t need to worry about saving a file and opening it to lower-quality images anymore.
The DOCX extension also allows for cross-platform compatibility. This means you can open it with tools like Open Office Writer.
Note that these benefits extend to other Office Open XML formats like PPTX and XLSX.
3. What to Use to Open a DOCX File
There are tons of programs in various platforms that can open DOCX files. On a Windows computer, you can use MS Word, File Viewer, Corel WordPerfect X9, and Kingsoft Writer. Mac apps that support DOCX files include Apple Pages, Preview, and Planamesa NeoOffice.
On Linux computers, Apache OpenOffice, LibreOffice, and Hancom NEO Word read DOCX files. On the web, Google Drive and Microsoft One Drive support the DOC00580078 extension. Many Android and iOS apps can also read files saved in the DOCX format.
4. How to Open DOCX Files
There’s no difference when it comes to opening a document saved as DOCX. Open it as you’d open DOC files. The catch is that DOCX files aren’t exclusive to MS Office programs.
You can open it by double-clicking the file on the File Viewer. Use the Open command (Ctrl + O) on Word to open a DOCX file. You can even drag the file to an open browser.
The primary software for opening and editing a DOCX file is Microsoft Word. You want to use a 2007 version and above. Otherwise, it’ll go into compatibility mode with an older version of Microsoft Word.
If you have an older version of MS Word, you can download the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for free. This lets you open, edit, and save DOCX files on older versions of Microsoft Word.
5. When to Use the DOCX File Format
It’s safe to use the DOCX extension every time you need to save a document. DOCX is already the standard file extension for documents. As we mentioned, it’s compatible with other word processors.
The exception to this is if you want to recover files older than ten years. This preserves the formatting of the file in DOC. Later, you can convert it to DOCX.
Another exception is if you want to see how well an out-of-date word processor still works. Create a file in DOC format and open it with the old word processor.
If you’re not doing these, it’s always better to save documents in DOCX extension.
6. How to Convert DOCX Files
Do you want to convert Pages to DOCX files or vice versa? Do you want to convert your old DOC files into DOCX files for universal compatibility? We’ve got the best solution for you.
What you need to do is to head over to our homepage. There, you’ll see the various files you can convert into DOCX. We also provide file conversions from DOCX into other file formats like HTML or ODT.
Use DOCX Files More Often
That’s it for our guide on what .DOCX or DOCX files are and how to use them. We hope you picked up something helpful in this short guide of ours. We also hope you now know more about the two most popular file formats for documents.
Did you enjoy reading about what DOCX files are? Do you want to know more about conversions? Check out our guide here to learn how to convert Google Docs to Word documents and more.