How To Open A Microsoft Office WORD File

Identify The File Types - Open A File With The .docx File Extension

Before I show you how to open a WORD file, also known as a Document, I will first introduce you to the common File Types (types of file) that Microsoft Word uses and more precisely their file name extensions. It is important to know what these are so that in the future you can quickly identify the type of file you will be opening, perhaps from an e-mail attachment.

.doc /.docx / .docm

A file whose name ends with the .doc extension (i.e. essay.doc) is primarily a Microsoft Word 2003 file (document). It normally contains Text and Pictures but can contain other mediums too such as Drawings, Charts, Excel Invoices, Website Links, Video Links and so on.

With Microsoft Word 2007 the document file format (internal structures/layout) was improved and the file itself was then given a new file name extension of .docx, which now uses XML and ZIP formats to make it a more open (universal) file format. This basically means Microsoft Word 2003, and earlier, cannot directly open Microsoft Word 2007 files - You need to install the File Format Converter first. When Microsoft Office 2010 was released Microsoft Word 2010 kept the .docx file format and uses it as its default (normally used) file format.

Files whose name ends with the .docm extension use the same file format as .docx files but also contain Macros, hence the m. Macros are activity (mouse/keyboard) recordings that are saved as code. For example. If you are doing something repeatedly, such as typing the same thing or clicking on the same buttons, microsoft word can record those actions and create macros (mini, reusable, codes) for them. When you then want to perform a specific action again, that has been recorded as a macro, you simply use the macro features of microsoft word.

.txt / .rtf

A file whose name ends with the .txt extension (i.e. essay.txt) is a plain and simple text document that can be opened in any Text Editor such as Notepad, Wordpad and Microsoft Word. If you create a document in microsoft word with some text and a picture inside it for example, saving that document as a .docx file means the text and picture will be saved; whereas if you save that document as a .txt file, only the text will be saved. The picture will be discarded.

Files whose name ends with the .rtf (rich text format) extension are similar to .docx files but less powerful. Meaning, they can contain text, pictures and website addresses for example on a simple scale but not on the, editing and feature, scale of microsoft word. The rich text file format has less internal structure/layout in other words and is therefore a much cut down version of microsoft office.

.rtf files (documents) are good for those occasions whereby you have created a simple document (.rtf file) and need to e-mail it to someone who does not have microsoft office installed. Like-wise, text documents (.txt files) are ideal for simple drafts and letters.

.pdf / .odt / .html / etc

Microsoft Word 2010 also supports other file formats such as .pdf (Adobe Reader file format), .odt (OpenOffice document format) and .html (web page file format) but in normal circumstances you will tend to open and save documents that are in the .docx, .txt or .rtf file format.

Open A File - Double Click On Its Icon

You can open a .docx file (document) in one of two ways. Either by double clicking on its icon or by using the OPEN menu-item within microsoft word. With the first option all you need to do is locate where your file is (i.e. inside the DOCUMENTS folder or on the Desktop) and then double click on its icon, with the left mouse button.

Fig 1.0  Double click on a microsoft word (.docx) file to open its content inside microsoft word

Double clicking on a file launches microsoft word, which in turn reads the content of the file that launched it. In this example the file called Research_Notes.docx.

Show Or Hide File Name Extensions

If you cannot see the file name extensions (i.e. .docx, .mp3, .jpg, etc) associated with your files in general it will be because of the way Windows is told to hide known file name extensions by default. If this is the case for you, whereby you would only be able to see Research_Notes for example, you need to go to the FOLDER VIEW option of Windows and switch off (untick) the HIDE EXTENSIONS FOR KNOWN FILE TYPES setting before clicking on the OK button.

Fig 1.1  Open any folder, click on its TOOLS menu >> FOLDER OPTIONS menu-item and then.....




Fig 1.2  .....click on the VIEW Tab before unticking HIDE EXTENSIONS FOR KNOWN FILE TYPES.

You can use Microsoft Word, and Windows, with or without file name extensions displayed of course but in the long run you are better off displaying them simply because there are now so many file types and file formats out there that you might accidently open the wrong file.

Open A File - Use The File Requester

To open a file using the second method requires you to open (launch/run) microsoft word first - Click on the START Menu button of Windows, locate the MICROSOFT OFFICE folder, click on it to open it and then select the MICROSOFT WORD 2010 shortcut icon (menu-item) link. Doing so will then open a new, blank, microsoft word document called Document1 (Fig 1.4).

Fig 1.3  Click on the MICROSOFT WORD 2010 shortcut icon (menu-item) link to open Microsoft Word 2010

With microsoft word now open (launched) with a new, blank, document called Document1; Click on the FILE Tab and then on the OPEN menu-item to bring up the OPEN File Requester (Fig 1.5).

Fig 1.4  Select the FILES Tab and then click on the OPEN menu-item to continue

Regardless of which office version you are using, the file requester is displayed in order for you to select a word file to open. In this example it is being used to select and open a Word 2007 (and 2010) .docx file.

Fig 1.5  Click on a word (.docx) file to select it and then click on the OPEN button to open it

When the file requester first appears it will more than likely state LIBRARIES >> DOCUMENTS (or just DOCUMENTS) in the Path Name area of the address bar and on the left side of the Folder Pane, but if not it will state the name of the last folder you used on your computer (such as the PICTURES folder or the MUSIC folder). Either way, you can always navigate the file requester to a folder of your choice.

The reason I point this out is because as a beginner to office, and especially to the computer, it is easy to forget which folder you last used for saving and opening files. Hence why it is important you know how to use the file requester. I am not going to go into that much detail about the file requester here, because I have fully explained it in my FREE Computer Lessons website, but I will tell you a little more about the FILE TYPE drop-down menu options.

If you want to skip this part you can jump straight to The Opened Document part of this page, but I would advise you to learn about the FILE TYPE drop-down menu options first.

The FILE TYPE (Type Of File) Drop-Down Menu

By default (normal behaviour) the FILE TYPE drop-down menu is set to ALL WORD DOCUMENTS, which basically means the file requester is set up to recognize any word compatible files - These include Word 2007 files (.docx, .dotm, .dotx and .dotm), Word 2003 files (.doc and .dot), Website files (.htm, .html, .xml, .mht and .mhtml), Text files (.rtf) and OpenOffice (.odt) files.

I say recognize, as opposed to open, because it is not the file requester that opens a file; it is word itself. The file requester is only used to fetch the path name (folder name), file name and file name extension (file type) - Example: DOCUMENTS/Research.docx. When you click on the OPEN button it is only then that word decides whether or not it can open that type of file.

If you want to change the file type to a specific file type simply select it from the FILE TYPE drop-down menu (Fig 1.6). In this next example I am selecting the WORD 97 - 2003 DOCUMENTS (*.Doc) file type. What this does is exclude all .docx (Word 2007 and 2010) files for example from the display area of the file requester (Fig 1.7) to denote I am not interested in selecting, and therefore opening, any .docx files. This means only .doc files will be displayed, if there are any .doc files in any of the folders of course.

Fig 1.6  Select a specific file type in order to exclude other file types




Fig 1.7  The .docx file type has been excluded and is therefore hidden

One thing to remember here is that even if there are no .doc files in the DOCUMENTS folder (or whatever folder is currently in the address bar) you can always navigate the file requester to a folder that does contain .doc files; including an external flash drive or hard drive folder.

Selecting a specific file type has the advantage of isolating files of that specific file type (i.e. the .doc file type), which in turn means you can find those type of files much easier. And the opposite is just as true. Sometimes you might not be able to find a file because the wrong FILE TYPE option has been selected. This was true with the Research_Notes.docx file, which was hidden when I had the WORD 97 - 2003 DOCUMENTS (*.Doc) file type option selected.

In this scenario you would normally select the ALL WORD DOCUMENTS option to rectify the matter, but you could select the ALL FILES option instead. The advantage of ALL FILES is that the file requester will show you the other files that are inside your folder (i.e. media files) within its display area. However, the disadvantage of ALL FILES is that word cannot always open those file types.

In the example below the file requester allows me to select a .wmv (Windows Media Video) file and click on the OPEN button, but word then throws up the File Conversion window as an error message (Fig 1.9) because it has treated the .wmv file format (internal structure) as foreign/unknown - It, quite rightly, does not recognize it as a valid word document. This goes with what I was saying above about the file requester not being the actual opener of files. It is only the folder name and file name collector.

Fig 1.8  The file requester allows you to select a .wmv file, but.....




Fig 1.9  .....word cannot open it - The format of the .wmv file is treated as foreign (unknown)

The correct way to insert a .wmv file into a word document would be to use the INSERT Tab >> INSERT OBJECT button (not shown here). So although it is possible to insert a .wmv file, you have to do it in the correct way. You do not open it as a file in this case, but insert it as an object instead. This is because the way embedding an object (i.e. a .wmv file) works and the way opening a compatible word document (i.e. a .docx file) works are slightly different in their methods.

I will not bore you with the finer details, but as you can see from Fig 1.9 above; trying to open a non-compatible word document (file) will result in error messages and text that is corrupted. So always stick to the main file types when opening a compatible word document via the file requester.

The Opened Document

Assuming you have the FILE TYPES drop-down menu option set to ALL WORD DOCUMENTS, have then selected a file (word document) and clicked on the OPEN button; your selected file should then open and display its content (i.e. text and pictures). In this example I have opened my Research_Notes.docx file which is a very simple, plain text, word document.

Fig 1.10  A simple, plain text, word document

In later sections of this website I will be showing you how to; Add style to a document, Insert objects, Use the file requester for saving documents and much much more. So do not worry if "something" was not explained here, perhaps to its fullest, because the other sections will more than likely cover those missing explanations in more detail and/or with examples. Take this section for example;

It was only meant as an introduction on "how to open a file (word document)", but it went on to explain some of the important elements of the file requester. And this is the kind of thing you will notice in later sections, especially as they become more in-depth (both for the absolute beginner and intermediate user). So stick with them!