If you use Microsoft Office 2003 or lower you may not recognize a file with the DOCX extension. DOCX files are document files which are created with newer versions of Microsoft Office, such as 2007 and higher. If you are using an older version or a completely different word processing program, then you may not recognize this type of file extension and may have difficulty opening it.
If someone has sent you a DOCX file or you are trying to download and open it from a website, here are a few ways you can access a DOCX file.
Opening DOCX Files
Before you spend some time on other methods of opening a DOCX file, try to open it by double clicking on it. Depending upon what programs are installed on your PC, your computer may automatically find an application that will open the file. If your PC does not find a default program that will open the file, you can proceed with a few of the following methods.
If you are working with an older version of Microsoft Word from Office 2003 or lower, it will be necessary to go to the Microsoft Office website (the website is located at office.microsoft.com) to download a file converter so you can work with the document. The converter will allow you to open the file in the existing version of Microsoft Word. If all you need to do is view and print the document, you can choose to download the File Viewer from the same website, which will allow you to view and print the document, but you will not be able to edit the DOCX file.
If you do not have any version of Microsoft Office installed on your PC, then you should consider downloading OpenOffice. This is an open source office suite which contains a word processing program capable of opening file extension DOCX. OpenOffice provides a comprehensive suite of office applications which include OpenOffice Write that is free to download from OpenOffice.org.
Another way to open a DOCX file is by using Google Documents provided you have a Google account. If you use Gmail or other type of Google account, then you can access Google Docs for free. All you have to do is browse to the location where you have the DOCX file stored and upload it to Google Docs. From there you can edit the document and return to view it in the future using your Google account. If the DOCX file was emailed to you through Gmail, you can open and view it automatically using Google Documents.
