Open Old Word Docs

[RalphClats]

How can I open old Word docs that the current version of Word won't open?

One of the oldies is from 2002.

Using MacOS 11.3.1 and Word 16.53

 

[chscag]

Welcome to our forums.

I don't know what the problem could be since I can open Word docs as far back as 1997 with my current version of Word (16.53). Likewise with the many Word docs I have that date from 1997 to the present.

Could be that either your Word docs are corrupt or possibly protected.

 

[mfpv]

How can I open old Word docs that the current version of Word won't open?

One of the oldies is from 2002.

Using MacOS 11.3.1 and Word 16.53

Apple Pages or even TestEdit might open them. I’ve used LibreOffice quite successfully too. I’ve heard good reports of FreeOffice from Softmaker.

 

[IWT]

How can I open old Word docs that the current version of Word won't open?

One of the oldies is from 2002.

Using MacOS 11.3.1 and Word 16.53

A warm welcome to Mac-Forums. Thank you for your post.

May I ask what response, if any, you get when you try to open these Word documents?

For example: does it say "not compatible" or Word can't open this document because.... Any message at all? (corrupted, locked etc)

Ian

 

[RalphClats]

Thank you for your replies.

I tried Apple Pages to no avail. TextEdit opened on oldie I tested, but the result is very hard to read because the app changed the format and added and mixed in a huge number of irrelevant characters.

The error message says ". . . uses a file type that is blocked from opening this version." When I click on "Learn more about blocked file types," it repeats preceding quote, then says:

"If you can’t open a Word document that was created in an earlier version, first make sure the latest Office updates have been installed. Then, use the File menu to open the document. If that doesn’t work, use Apple TextEdit or an earlier version of Word to open it.

"Also, now in Word 2016 for Mac, you can open Word files saved in OpenDocument Format (.odt, .ods, .odp) and convert them to editable Microsoft OOXML files (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx ). You'll need to be connected to the internet to open ODF files and convert them to OOXML files. For more information on the conversion process, see View OpenDocument Format (ODF) files in Office 2016 for Mac and Why do I need the Microsoft online service to open some Office files?."

It doesn't seem the second paragraph applies. For the first paragraph: My Office is up to date, I checked. I tried to open from the File menu and got the same error message I quoted above. I addressed TextEdit above. I don't have an earlier version of Word.

It seems strange to me that Microsoft would create Word versions that make it impossible to open Word docs from much earlier versions. That must make hundreds of thousands of stored documents inaccessible.

If I were to try LibreOffice or FreeOffice, can I download only Word without the other apps in Office?

 

[mfpv]

If I were to try LibreOffice or FreeOffice, can I download only Word without the other apps in Office?

You have to download the complete packages unfortunately.

 

[chscag]

It seems strange to me that Microsoft would create Word versions that make it impossible to open Word docs from much earlier versions. That must make hundreds of thousands of stored documents inaccessible.

Something is wrong on your side, not Microsoft. As I replied to you above, I'm using the same version of MS Word that you're using and I have no problem opening Word docs from as far back as Windows Office 1997. As a matter of fact, I haven't run into an old Word doc that I couldn't open.

Which leads me to believe the Word docs you're trying to open are either corrupt or locked.

 

[RalphClats]

If the docs were corrupt or locked, wouldn't I get that error message rather than the one I quoted above that says my version won't open docs from whatever version they were created in?

 

[MacInWin]

The error message says ". . . uses a file type that is blocked from opening this version." When I click on "Learn more about blocked file types," it repeats preceding quote, then says:

"If you can’t open a Word document that was created in an earlier version, first make sure the latest Office updates have been installed. Then, use the File menu to open the document. If that doesn’t work, use Apple TextEdit or an earlier version of Word to open it.

"Also, now in Word 2016 for Mac, you can open Word files saved in OpenDocument Format (.odt, .ods, .odp) and convert them to editable Microsoft OOXML files (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx ). You'll need to be connected to the internet to open ODF files and convert them to OOXML files. For more information on the conversion process, see View OpenDocument Format (ODF) files in Office 2016 for Mac and Why do I need the Microsoft online service to open some Office files?."

Don't read more into the error that what it says. Like the others, I have Word and can open every document going back 16 years (I don't have any older than that handy). So what the error is saying is that your version of Word, as installed, is finding something "foreign" in the documents as it tries to open it. A file type that Word cannot handle. The extent may be .doc, but the file internals don't match what it expected.

Like the others, I suspect there is something awry in your installation, if the files are not corrupt, or that the files are somehow corrupted, if your installation is correct. I'd do a reinstall of Word first, and if that doesn't work, try the various programs that claim to work on Word files. If they don't work, it has to be the files are somehow NOT formatted for Word after all.

 

[Slydude]

Something is wrong on your side, not Microsoft. As I replied to you above, I'm using the same version of MS Word that you're using and I have no problem opening Word docs from as far back as Windows Office 1997. As a matter of fact, I haven't run into an old Word doc that I couldn't open.

Which leads me to believe the Word docs you're trying to open are either corrupt or locked.

Charlie, I haven't found it yet but I thought there was an optional update or something some time ago that addressed opening older files. Does that ring any bells?

 

[RalphClats]

This problem is boggling my mind.

I discovered I have two versions of Word: 16.24 and 16.53. The docs I want to retrieve open in neither.

In .24, the list of docs shows each with a little dark box to the left of its name. When I click on the doc, the box shows in the adjacent window as a big dark box with "exec" in it. When I click to open, the error message saying ". . . uses a file type that is blocked from opening this version" comes up. I have many, many docs that that result applies to.

Among them is a series of 18 letters. Letters 1-13 have the dark box and don't open as I wrote above. Letters 14-18 have a very light, differently shaped box next to them and do open.

Then I closed .24, opened .53 and went to the same folder. All the docs' names that had dark boxes to the left of them in .24 are grayed out, the boxes are light shadows instead of dark, and when I click to open, nothing happens.

The only docs that open are letters 14-18 as designated above. None of the old docs that won't open show extension designations. Letters 14-18 don't show extension designations either.

Can scores if not hundreds of docs be corrupt? If the docs were locked, wouldn't a message come up saying that?

 

[RalphClats]

All the docs are Word. I've never used another word processor.

How would I reinstall Word 16.53? Would I have to reinstall the whole Office 365 bundle?

 

[MacInWin]

I would uninstall Word, twice, getting rid of both of them you have now. The problem may be that in having two versions so close together the support files are getting confused. Word spreads files all over the system, mimicking what it does on Windows, unlike more Mac-like applications. So use an uninstaller from MS, get rid of both, then reinstall Word. I don't know if you have to install the whole bundle or not.

 

[RalphClats]

I've been messing around with TextEdit and having much more luck opening the docs in a readable way.

If my luck continues, I won't have to uninstall the Word versions and reinstall the newer one. The don't-open problem occurs only with the very old docs. Otherwise, both versions work fine.

However, I'm guessing it's a good idea to trash the older version.

 

[solowyer]

How can I open old Word docs that the current version of Word won't open?

One of the oldies is from 2002.

Using MacOS 11.3.1 and Word 16.53

Hi RalphClats
If you send me your file that you are unable to open, I will try and open it for you. I have a lot of resources at hand to examine old Microsoft files. I will let you know right away if the file is corrupt or not.

Have a great day
Ernie

 

[BobCollard]

If if is .odt then you could download Word Writer from the App Store free. That will work.

 

[michaelakern]

I agree with Solowyer, have someone you know try to open a file to see f it works.if it does then it is your software

 

[RalphClats]

Hi RalphClats
If you send me your file that you are unable to open, I will try and open it for you. I have a lot of resources at hand to examine old Microsoft files. I will let you know right away if the file is corrupt or not.

Have a great day
Ernie

Thank you for the offer. I have scores of old Word docs that won't open and hundreds of newer ones that do open. Just now when I went to my hard drive to send you a sample, the docs that won't open are listed, but they won't let me highlight them so I can attach and send.

Several people have suggested my software is corrupted or the docs are locked. If corrupted, why does the error message say ". . . uses a file type that is blocked from opening this version."? and "If you can’t open a Word document that was created in an earlier version, first make sure the latest Office updates have been installed. Then, use the File menu to open the document. If that doesn’t work, use Apple TextEdit or an earlier version of Word to open it."?

My Office is up to date. I tried the workaround and got the same error message.

TextEdit opens them imperfectly. It scatters the text and adds irrelevant characters and lines of characters.

Other(s) have suggested the docs are locked. I wrote them all in earlier versions of Word. I didn't lock them. They're not locked.

If my Word was corrupt or the docs were locked, wouldn't the error message say that?

 

[chscag]

Other(s) have suggested the docs are locked. I wrote them all in earlier versions of Word. I didn't lock them. They're not locked.

If my Word was corrupt or the docs were locked, wouldn't the error message say that?

Don't know what else to tell you or suggest. Several of us have stated that we can open very old Word docs with the latest version of Word. I'm using the same version as you are and can open docs from Word 1997. I have archives of probably more than a thousand Word docs from 1997 to the present which I can continue to open.

Sometimes the errors that are displayed can be confusing or misleading. Whatever the reason, the problem is clearly with your documents and not MS Word.

 

[jpdemers]

I have the same problem - "file type is blocked" seems to indicate some sort of security thing imposed by Microsoft. It's only for old .doc files (files earlier than 2007 are not opening.) The easy options are to use a text editor and fish out the desired text, or else open them with an older version of Word and save them as .docx files. (Maybe put them on a USB stick, and plug it into a different Mac or a PC.)