Docx and doc: differences and how to open them

DOC and DOCX are two formats that most users know about. These are formats with which we have worked or work on a regular basis. Despite the many similarities they have, these are two different formats, which are important to differentiate. Therefore, below we will talk about each one of them, their differences and the way in which we can open them.

Index of contents

DOC and DOCX: Differences and how to open each one

Thus, you will be able to know everything you need about these two formats that we use so much and that we have heard about on numerous occasions. What should we know about them?

DOC and DOCX: What are their differences

Both DOC and DOCX are formats that belong to Microsoft Word, the office suite of the American company. But, the first is the format that we find in older versions of the suite, prior to 2007. While DOCX is the format that came to replace the first, and since Office 2007 it is the one used in all documents of Word we create. It has become the standard format on the market.

The main difference between the two is the version of Office to which they belong. In addition, DOCX is a format that stands out for creating lighter and smaller documents in terms of weight, also for having less probabilities that files are corrupted and images are compressed better, without losing quality. DOCX format is the result of the coding work done in XML, that's why an X was added to DOC. In this way the name of the format originates.

Currently, we can use DOC format documents in the latest versions of Microsoft Word. Although most likely, when saving, they will be converted to DOCX format. We can also view DOCX format documents in older versions of Office. In large part it is thanks to the compatibility mode, that there are no problems in this regard.

How to open DOC and DOCX files

We can open both types of formats in the various versions of Microsoft Office. So we will not have problems in this regard. Although, it is likely that in the old versions of the suite you will have to download the Microsoft compatibility package to avoid possible problems. Especially since new features have been introduced in the latest documents. In addition, not only in Microsoft programs like Word we can open this type of files, we can also use third-party options for it.

We have many free document editors (OpenOffice, Libre Office…) that are compatible with the DOCX format. In this way, we can open this type of document without any problem. Although in some editors we can open the document, but the compatibility is not the best, so in many cases the text is not arranged correctly, or in the original way it was in the initial format. The DOC format is accepted in some, but the same thing happens, that there may be problems when presenting it on screen. There are characters that are shown in failure, or the lines are not shown in the original form.

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Another option that we can make use of is Google Drive. We can upload documents in DOC and DOCX format to the Google cloud and there edit or convert them into other formats. Although, at the time of downloading we do not have the possibility to download the DOC format. It is only possible to download these documents in DOCX format.

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As you can see, the differences between these two formats are not too many. But it is good to know the transition that has taken place from one format to another, and the way in which we can open them.