You may sometimes want to share your documents with people who use earlier versions of Word.
Word 2007, Word 2010, and Word 2013 can open .docx files created with newer versions of Word.
If you aren't sure which earlier version they're using, you can save documents in the Word 97 – 2003 (.doc) file format.
Create a new document in Word 97 – 2003 format
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On the File tab, select New.
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Select Blank document to create the new document.
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On the File tab, select Save As.
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Choose a location to save the file.
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Type a name for the document.
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Select Word 97-2003 Document (*.doc) from the list. This changes the file format from .docx to .doc.
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Select Save.
Consequences of converting .docx to .doc format?
When you save a document created in Word (.docx) in Word 97 – 2003 (.doc) format, some features and elements may be lost or behave differently.
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For instructions on how to use the Compatibility Checker, see Check file compatibility with earlier versions.
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For lists of feature availability and feature behavior changes in different versions, see Compatibility changes between versions.
