How to view Word 2007 and Excel 2007 files by using Word Viewer 2003 and Excel Viewer 2003

You can use Microsoft Office Word Viewer 2003 and Microsoft Office Excel Viewer 2003 to view Word 2003 and Excel 2003 files even if you do not have Word or Excel installed on your computer. However, with these tools, you cannot save or edit the files.

If you have to view a file in Word 2007 or Excel 2007 and Word or Excel is not installed on your computer, you can view the file by using the Word Viewer 2003, but only after you install the Compatibility Pack.

Note If Word 2003 or Excel 2003 is already installed on your computer, you only have to install the Compatibility Pack to view or work with files in Word 2007 or Excel 2007. You do not have to install the Viewer.

This article describes how to download the Compatibility Pack and viewers. It also details the file format compatibility that the Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 provides when you use the Compatibility Pack with Word Viewer 2003 and with Excel Viewer 2003.

Downloading Compatibility Pack and Viewers

To download the Compatibility Pack from the Microsoft Download Center, visit the following Microsoft Web site: For more information about how to obtain Word Viewer 2003 and Excel Viewer 2003, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Opening a file after you install the Compatibility Pack

To open a 2007 Microsoft Office file in the Office 2003 viewers:

1. Install the Compatibility Pack.
2. Locate the file in Windows Explorer.
3. Double-click the file that you want to view.

Opening Word 2007 documents by using the Viewer

To use Word Viewer to open a file, follow these steps:

1. Start Word Viewer.
2. On the File menu, click Open.
3. In the Files of type list, click All Files (*.*).
4. Click to select the file that you want to open, and then click Open.

Opening Excel 2007 documents by using the Viewer

To use Excel Viewer to open a file, follow these steps:

1. Locate the file in Windows Explorer.
2. Double-click the file that you want to view.

Note You cannot click Open on the File menu to open an Excel 2007 file in the Excel 2003 Viewer.

The Compatibility Pack enables you to open and view Word 2007 and Excel 2007 documents by using the Word Viewer 2003 and the Excel Viewer 2003. After you have installed the Compatibility Pack, you can view the following 2007 Microsoft Office document formats:

Microsoft Office Word 2007

• Microsoft Office Word 2007 document (*.docx)
• Microsoft Office Word 2007 macro-enabled document (*.docm)

Microsoft Office Excel 2007

• Microsoft Office Excel 2007 binary workbook (*.xlsb)
• Microsoft Office Excel 2007 workbook (*.xlsx)
• Microsoft Office Excel 2007 macro-enabled workbook (*.xlsm)
• Microsoft Office Excel 2007 template (*.xltx)
• Microsoft Office Excel 2007 macro-enabled template (*.xltm)
• Microsoft Office Excel 2007 add-in (*.xlam)