You receive an error message when you try to open a file type that was blocked by your registry policy settings in Word

When you try to open a file that was saved in a Microsoft Word format in one of the following programs, the file does not open: 

• Microsoft Word 2013
• Microsoft Word 2010
• Microsoft Office Word 2007
• Microsoft Office Word 2003

Additionally, you receive one of the following error messages:

Error message 1
Error message 2Error message 3
Note You may receive a similar error message when you try to save a file. In this case, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

This issue may occur if one of the following conditions is true:

• You are using Word 2013 or Word 2010, and you try to open a file that was saved in one of the following earlier Word formats. (Word 2013 and Word 2010 do not support documents that were saved in the following Word formats.) 
  • Microsoft Word for Windows 1.x
  • Microsoft Word for Windows 2.x
  • Microsoft Word for the Macintosh 4.x
  • Microsoft Word for the Macintosh 5.x
  • Microsoft Word 6.0 Binary Documents and Templates
  • Microsoft Word 95 Binary Documents and Templates
• You are using Word 2007, and you try to open a file that was saved in one of the following earlier Word formats. (Word 2007 does not support documents that were saved in the following Word formats.) 
  • Microsoft Word for Windows 1.x
  • Microsoft Word for Windows 2.x
  • Microsoft Word for the Macintosh 4.x
  • Microsoft Word for the Macintosh 5.x
• An administrator restricted the kinds of documents that you can open or save in Word 2007 or in Word 2003. An administrator can set a registry key to restrict this functionality. 
  
  For Word 2007, the registry key can be set in the 2007 Office System Administrative Templates. For more information, see the "Word 2007" subsection of the "More Information" section.
  
  For Word 2003, security update 934181 enables the administrator to block the ability to save or to open files in Word 2003. For more information, see the "Word 2003" subsection of the "More Information" section.

To open files that are blocked by the registry, you can disable the restriction on opening presentations that were blocked by the registry settings of Word. To do this, use one of the following methods.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Method 1: Disable the restriction on opening documents of certain types

Word 2013 and Word 2010

1. Click the File tab.
2. Under Help, click Options.
   
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3. Click Trust Center, and then click Trust Center Settings.
   
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4. In the Trust Center, click File Block Settings.
5. To enable the opening of a file that is blocked, clear the check box for that file type.
   
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6. Click OK two times.

Word 2007

To disable this restriction in Word 2007, change the value of the FileOpenBlock subkey.

To have us disable this restriction for you, go to the "Fix it for me" section. If you would rather enable Windows Installer logging yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

Fix it for me

To disable or enable the file restriction automatically, click the Fix this problem link for Disable or Enable restriction. Then click Run in the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in this wizard.



Note These wizard may be in English only; however, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.

Note If you are not on the computer that has the problem, you can save the automatic fix to a flash drive or to a CD, and then you can run it on the computer that has the problem.

Let me fix it myself

To disable or enable the file restriction yourself, follow these steps: 

1. Exit Word.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Security\FileOpenBlock
   If the FileOpenBlock subkey does not exist, you must create it. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Select the Security subkey.
   2. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key.
   3. Type FileOpenBlock, and then press ENTER.
4. After you select the subkey that is specified in step 3, locate the DWORD value.
   
   Note If this value does not exist, you must create it. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
   2. Type the DWORD value for which you want to disable the restriction, and then press ENTER. For example, type FilesBeforeVersion.
   You may check for the different DWORD values in the "More Information" section of this article based on the version of Word that you are running.
   9
   For example, if the opening of files that were saved in earlier file formats is restricted, locate the "FilesBeforeVersion" DWORD value in the registry for the FileOpenBlock subkey. When you change the value of "FilesBeforeVersion" from 1 to 0, you can open files that were saved in earlier file formats.
5. Right-click the DWORD value that you want, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.
7. On the File menu, click Exit to exit Registry Editor.

Word 2003

For more information about how to disable this restriction in Word 2003, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Method 2: Use a trusted location, or create an exempt location

To do this, follow these steps, as appropriate for the version of Word that you are running:

• In Word 2013, if you trust the file that you want to open, you can open that file even if the file type is blocked by the registry. You can override the registry policy settings by moving the file to a trusted location.
  
  For more information about how to create, to remove, or to change a trusted location for files, go to the following Microsoft website:
  Plan Trusted Locations settings for Office 2013

  (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179039(office.14).aspx)
• In Word 2010, if you trust the file that you want to open, you can open that file even if the file type is blocked by the registry. You can override the registry policy settings by moving the file to a trusted location.
  
  For more information about how to create, to remove, or to change a trusted location for files, go to the following Microsoft website:
  Plan Trusted Locations settings for Office 2010

  (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179039(office.14).aspx)
• In Word 2007, if you trust the file that you want to open, you can open that file even if the file type is blocked by the registry. You can override the registry policy settings by moving the file to a trusted location.
  
  For more information about how to create, to remove, or to change a trusted location for files, go to the following Microsoft website:
  Create, remove, or change a trusted location for your files

  (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA100319991033.aspx)
• In Word 2003, there are no trusted locations. You can create an exempt location to override the registry policy settings.
  
  To create an exempt location, follow these steps
  
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  1. Exit Word 2003.
  2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
  3. Locate and then click one of the following registry subkeys:
     HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common
     HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common
  4. Point to New on the Edit menu, and then click Key.
  5. Type OICEExemptions for the name of the key.
  6. Point to New on the Edit menu, and then click String Value.
  7. Type a string name, and then press ENTER. For example, type ExemptDirectory.
  8. Right-click the string name that you typed in step 7, and then click Modify.
  9. In the Value data box, type the path of the directory that contains the file, and then click OK. For example, if your document is in the C:\My Documents folder, type C:\My Documents in the Value data box.
     
     Note You must create the folder. Any subfolders are not automatically exempted. For any additional folders that you would like to make exempt, repeat steps 6 to 9 by creating string values such as "ExemptDirectory1," and "ExemptDirectory2."
  10. On the File menu, click Exit to exit Registry Editor.

Method 3: Contact the system administrator

Office 2013

You can download the Office 2013 Administrative Template files (ADM, ADMX/ADML) and Office Customization Tool from the Microsoft Download Center at This update provides updated Group Policy template files either to enable an override of the files that are blocked by default or to block additional file types. 

The opening of the following file types can be controlled through File Block Settings

• Word 2007 and later documents and templates
• OpenDocument text files
• Word 2007 and later binary documents and templates
• Word 2003 binary documents and templates
• Word 2003 and plain XML documents
• Word XP binary documents and templates
• Word 2000 binary documents and templates
• Word 97 binary documents and templates
• Word 95 binary documents and templates
• Word 6.0 binary documents and templates
• Word 2 and earlier binary documents and templates
• Webpages
• RTF files
• Plain text files
• Legacy converters for Word
• Open XML converters for Word
• PDF files

Office 2010

You can download the Office 2010 Administrative Template files (ADM, ADMX/ADML) and Office Customization Tool from the Microsoft Download Center at This update provides updated Group Policy template files either to enable an override of the files that are blocked by default or to block additional file types. 

The opening of the following file types can be controlled through File Block Settings

• Word 2007 and later documents and templates 
• OpenDocument text files
• Word 2007 and later binary documents and templates
• Word 2003 binary documents and templates
• Word 2003 and plain XML documents
• Word XP binary documents and templates
• Word 2000 binary documents and templates
• Word 97 binary documents and templates
• Word 95 binary documents and templates
• Word 6.0 binary documents and templates
• Word 2 and earlier binary documents and templates
• Webpages
• RTF files
• Plain text files 
• Legacy converters for Word
• Open XML converters for Word

Office 2007

 Contact the system administrator to change the registry settings by changing the policies. The 2007 Office system (SP2) Administrative Template files (ADM, ADMX, ADML) and Office Customization Tool can be downloaded from the Microsoft Download Center at This update provides updated Group Policy template files either to enable an override of the files that are blocked by default or to block additional file types. 

The "Block opening of files before version" Group Policy setting provides a list of file types that can be blocked. The file types are listed in chronological order, and selecting one file type forces earlier versions to be blocked (but not the selected version).

The Word versions are listed here

• Word 1.x for Windows
• Word 4.x for Macintosh
• Word 1.2 for Windows Japan
• Word 1.2 for Windows Korea Word 5.x for Macintosh
• Word 1.2 for Windows Taiwan Word 2.x for Windows
• Word 2.x for Windows BiDi Word 2.x for Windows Japan Word 2.x for Windows Korea
• Word 2.x for Windows Taiwan Word 6.0 for Windows
• Word 6.0 for Macintosh Word 95 Released Word 95 Beta
• Word 97 for Windows Word 98 for Macintosh Word 2001 for Macintosh
• Word X for Macintosh Word 2000 Word 2002
• Word 2003 Word 2004 for Macintosh
• Word 2003 as saved by Word 2007
  

 The file type can be selected only if the Enabled option is selected to select a file type.  

How to restrict files in Microsoft Word

Word 2013

To restrict the kinds of files that you can open or save in Word 2013, an administrator can use the 2013 Office System Administrative Templates to configure the registry on the client computer.

Notes

• To download the 2013 Office System Administrative Templates, go to the following Microsoft website:
  Office 2013 Administrative Template files (ADM, ADMX/ADML) and Office Customization Tool
• For more specific information about how to use settings to block the opening and saving of file formats in Office 2013 programs, go to the following Microsoft website, and then see the "Group Policy overview for Office 2013" topic:

Word 2010

To restrict the kinds of files that you can open or save in Word 2010, an administrator can use the 2010 Office System Administrative Templates to configure the registry on the client computer. 

Notes

• To download the 2010 Office System Administrative Templates, go to the following Microsoft website:
• For more specific information about how to use settings to block the opening and saving of file formats in the 2010 Office programs, go to the following Microsoft website, and then see the "Group Policy overview for Office 2010" topic:

Word 2007

To restrict the types of files that you can open or save in Word 2007, an administrator can use the 2007 Office System Administrative Templates to configure the registry on the client computer.

The following table contains the DWORD values that an administrator can add to the registry to restrict certain file types by using the FileOpenBlock subkey. Additionally, the table contains the corresponding file types that are restricted. Notes

• To download the 2007 Office System Administrative Templates, go to the following Microsoft website:
• For more specific information about how to use settings to block the opening and saving of file formats in the 2007 Office programs, go to the following Microsoft website, and then see the "Enforce settings by using Group Policy in the 2007 Office system" topic:

Word 2003

An administrator can restrict the types of files that you can open or save in Word 2003. This ability was not provided in Microsoft Office 2003 when it was originally released. To restrict the types of files that can be opened or saved in Word 2003, install security update 934181.

For more information about security update 934181, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: To restrict the types of files that you can open or save in Word 2003, an administrator can use one of the following methods:

• Use the updated Office 2003 Administrative Templates to configure the registry on the client computer.
• Modify the registry by adding a registry key setting on the client computer.

To download the Office 2003 Service Pack 3 Administrative Template (ADM), OPAs, and Explain Text Update, go to the following Microsoft website: The following table contains the DWORD values that an administrator can add to the registry to restrict certain file types by using the FileOpenBlock subkey. Additionally, the table contains the corresponding file types that are restricted. To enable the FileOpenBlock subkey settings, follow these steps:

1. Exit Word 2003.
2. Install update 934181 if it is not installed.
3. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
4. Locate and then click one of the following registry subkeys:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Word\Security\FileOpenBlock
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Word\Security\FileOpenBlock
   If the FileOpenBlock subkey does not exist, follow these steps to create it:
   1. Click to select the Security subkey.
   2. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key.
   3. Type FileOpenBlock, and then press ENTER.
5. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
6. Type the DWORD value that you want to restrict, and then press ENTER. For example, type BinaryFiles to restrict the opening of .doc and .dot file types.
7. Right-click the DWORD value that you typed in step 6, and then click Modify.
8. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
9. On the File menu, click Exit to exit Registry Editor.