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.DOCX file extension What are these types of files and how to open them?

UPDATED ✅ Do you want to know which are the best programs and applications to open .Docx files on your computer and smartphone? ⭐ ENTER HERE ⭐ and discover how to do it ✅ EASY and FAST ✅

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 have probably also seen the .docx extensionwhich is nothing more than the 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 it and what are files with the .docx extension used for?

files with .docx extension

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 the Microsoft Word uses by default to save your files since 2007, while earlier 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 in 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 quintessential application to open DOCX files is without a doubt the famous Word of Microsoft Office. 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 we will 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 that also 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. 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.


‎Microsoft Word
‎Microsoft Word
Price:
Free+

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 used, it is not necessary to have only this one to 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 text documents with a DOCX extension in a completely simple way:

LibreOffice Writer

LibreOffice Writer

Writer is the name given to the open source word processor of the LibreOffice program that can be used on Linux, Windows or MacOS. It is undoubtedly one of the best alternatives to Microsoft Word to open our files with a DOCX or DOC extension.

Open Office Writer

Open Office Writer

Although LibreOffice has displaced it, OpenOffice is still a very good alternative and your Writer word processor is suitable for us to open our files DOCX on our computer.

WPS Writer

WPS Writer

Although the popularity of WPS Office has been 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 option for opening files with a DOCX extension.

AbiWord

AbiWord

It may not be the best option in terms of word processors and since it is out of date 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

Google Docs

One of the best options that we have at our disposal is without a doubt the function of Google that we can 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.

WordOnline

WordOnline

Finally, we also have the possibility of making use of the tool of Microsoft OfficeOnlinethat Unlike the desktop one, it is completely free. Although this option is not as fast as Google Docs or the Microsoft Word application for our computer, means an important alternative if we want to open our DOCX files.

What are the differences between .Doc and .Docx files? Can they be converted?

differences between .Doc and .Docx files

The difference between files with DOC extension and DOCX goes beyond appending a letter to 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) in advance of the increasing pressure exerted by 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 is not much reason to continue using the DOC extension files, except in the event 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 in any other of the word processors that we have mentioned previously and use the function “File” > “Save As”, selecting DOC as the new format.

Nevertheless, you do not absolutely need to convert the file Since Microsoft already allows us to download and install a plugin for old versions of Office on our computer 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 such as Docx2rtf or through online services such as Zamzar.com so you can open your file even if you have an old version of Microsoft Word.

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