Opening Word for Mac on a PC

I use Word for Mac 2008 on my iMac and MacBook because I need to send files to PC users, but many recipients can't open the files. I can't help wondering what 'compatability mode' is about if the files can't be opened by different computers without the users downloading additional software (which business users would be unlikely to welcome). I have also tried saving files in .docx and .dot formats, but the result is the same.
I realise that this might not be a problem for the present forum, but can anyone suggest a decent alternative informational source? I've tried Mactopia and can't find anything that really covers this, besides which answers, if any, are slow in coming.

Thanks for all the input and advice.
In answer to rkaufmann87, I meant .doc – careless of me.
Carolyn Samit asks if I click ‘Attach’ in Mac Mail. Well, Carolyn, this is going to amaze you. It certainly amazes me, because in all the years that I’ve used Mac Mail it has never occurred to me to click ‘Attach’. I drag my files into the body on an email. That could be my problem, so thanks for that. From now on I will ‘Attach, Attach, Attach’. Please imagine me banging my very thick head on my desk as I write this!
Steve M mentions using a previous version of Word. Good point. I never had any trouble with previous versions – even dragging 50,000 word files into the emails. As for ‘compatibility mode’ – the phrase automatically follows every Word file I create. I find it rather irritating and have tried to find ways to eliminate it, but it persists.

Similar Messages

Issues with Microsoft Word for mac closing when I try to open old or newly downloaded documents

When I download a document from my professor, or try to open an older document, my word automatically quits. If it's already closed and I try to open a document, it will show the dot at the bottom of the icon that it's loading to open but it quickly disappears and quits itself. Is anyone else experiencing this issue or know what I can do to fix it? Thanks.
MacBook Pro 13'' 2011
Microsoft Word for mac 2011
OS X Yosemite 10.10

Message was edited by: leroydouglas
better yet, try this solution:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/12351186#12351186

I have Microsoft Word for Mac 2011, version 14.3.1. When I try to open a document, an error occurs, says file type is "blocked from opening in this version." This was NOT immediately after a version update. Any ideas? Thank you.

I have Microsoft Word for Mac 2011, version 14.3.1. When I try to open a document, an error occurs, says file type is "blocked from opening in this version." This was NOT immediately after a version update. Any ideas? Thank you.

Take a look here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953266
If that doesn't help, I'd suggest you take up the question in Microsoft's own forums or with Microsoft support.
Regards.

Can you open with Pages documents that were created in a 2004 version of Microsoft word for Mac?

Can you open in Pages documents that were created in a 2004 version of Microsoft Word for Mac?

Pages '09 will open .doc files from Word 2004. The Mac OS is not what is in question. Pages '09 opens Word 2004 documents and if the same version of Pages will run in Lion and in Mountain Lion ..... Thats all that matters.
I trust you were using MS Office 2004 and would now like to buy Pages?

I've been working with documents in pages and recently downloaded word for mac. i open the pages documents and they appear to be corrupt. at least, a lot of the font is now in weird boxed pictures. what do i do?

I've been working with documents in Pages and recently downloaded Word for Mac. Upon opening Pages documents with Pages, the documents appear corrupt. Much of the font has been replaced with boxed little pictures - yet they are identified as times new roman. What do I do?

You got the new iphone????? I have same problem. I transferred audiobooks to device to find no audiobooks on device (despite it being in iTunes as if it was). Have you found a solution????? I even tried to change import settings on format transfer but hasn't worked.

When attempting to open a hyperlink to a PDF file on the web from a Microsoft WORD for Mac 2011 (14.3.9) document, Safari 7.0 instead displays the file as text?

When attempting to open a hyperlink to a PDF file on the web from a Microsoft WORD for Mac 2011 (14.3.9) document, Safari 7.0 instead displays the file as text?

As seen in http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/mac/forum/macoffice2011-macword/has-the-word- 2011-for-mac-invisible-toolbars/018a3ab6-0570-4ad5-abf8-5b6427fdde3e?msgId=e111b f0a-0e32-4fa3-9536-f349dad8439d
and it worked for me:
1. Quit Word
2. In the Finder's menu bar, select Go > Go to folder and type or paste: ~/Library/Preferences/
3. Click on Go
4. Locate the preference file com.microsoft.Word.plist, then Option-drag it to the desktop to create a backup copy
5. Go to Applications/Utilities and open Terminal
6. Paste the following bold command at the $ prompt (it's a single line):
defaults write com.microsoft.Word 14\\Toolbars\\Show_HIToolbar -boolean TRUE
7. Press Return and then quit with Command Q
8. Start Word and test. If the fix works, trash the backup file in the Desktop file. Otherwise, restore it.
In the original source the author also mentions the change in Word 2008

Help! Word for mac 2011 won't open files

Hi,
I wasn't able to find a suitable category to place this question under, but hope someone can help all the same.
I have Word for Mac 2011 on my 2011 iMac. In the last couple of days, it has stopped opening files (by double-clicking on them, or by going to File > Open). Instead, I get an error message which reads:
"Document name" uses a file type that is blocked from opening in this version
(The message then continues with smaller print, telling me how this is for security reasons but that I should be able to use File > Open to access the file - which I can't).
The only way I have found to open the files is by using File > Open and in the 'Enable' box choosing 'Recover Text from any file'. However, this is pretty unhelpful because I lose the file's logos and formatting.
Note that this problem happens to all files regardless of which version of Word they were created on.
Please help! I really need to access my Word docs...
Thanks in advance.

I am also suddenly having this problem. It seemed to start after I upgraded to Lion. I had Word 2003 until I upgraded to Word 2011 last year, so I don't have 2008 to go back to. The documents it won't open are just blank. They will open with Open Office. This is just so annoying! I thought it was a Lion incompatibility, but you are saying it is a Microsoft problem?

Documents in Word for Mac 97-2004 don't open in Word for Mac 2011

I have some Word documents that have been created in Word 97-2004. I didn't have any trouble with opening them on my Mac until I updated Word for Mac to 2011. Now they don't open anymore and I get a message that the document type is blocked by Word for Mac
2011. How can I open these documents again?
Thanks a lot!

Please repost your question to the Word for the Mac forum, which is located here:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/mac/forum/macword
This TechNet forum is for the Windows version of Microsoft Office. More people who understand Office for the Mac hang out over there.
Kind Regards, Rich ... http://greatcirclelearning.com

When I send an attachment using Word for MAC people have a hard time opening it with a PC. Can I do anything different?MAC

When I try to send an attachment using Word for MAC people have a hard time opening it with a PC. Can I do anything different?

shldr2thewheel already sent a teach-yourself way. Perhaps you could be more specific: any .doc file written in Mac OS is opened with difficulty? what version of Office on mac and what version in windows? any format, e.g. .doc or .rtf? Even a simple rtext of, say, 2-3 pages? or only long docs, e.g. 100 pages or more? what language is used? English or any other West European, Latin based text, or other scripts too? What do you understand by ‘people have a hard time opening it with a PC?’ takes a very long time? or does not open at all? etc. etc.

I'm unable to open my Office Word for Mac. The message say's check with developer to make sure Microsoft Word works with this version of Mac OS X.

I'm unable to open my Office Word for Mac. The message say's check with developer to make sure Microsoft Word works with this version of Mac OS X.
Orginally I downloaded OFFICE from the Apple Store App, so unable to reinstall as it suggest.

Which version of Office, 2004, 2008 or 2011
and
MS Office is not available from the App Store, so where did you get it?

When I open the word for mac, I could not see the Turkish characters. How can I fix it?

When I open the word for mac, I could not see the Turkish characters. How can I fix it?

Ask in the MS Office forums - http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/mac.
Good luck,
Clinton

I'm opening up my Mac and it is going straight to Word for Mac and randomly opening multiple pages automatically. I am unable to control it. I think there is a problem. I'm desperate to get into my work - any ideas?

I'm opening up my Mac and it is going straight to Word for Mac and randomly opening multiple pages automatically. I am unable to control it. I think there is a problem. I'm desperate to get into my work - any ideas?

If you close all the windows and quit word, next time you restart, DO NOT check "Reopen windows on login".
Also, check your login items for your user account.

Hi i have just purchased a mac pro. ive installed word for mac as i wanted to transfer word documents from a windows pc, which are ona usb stick. however i cannot open the usb stick. can anyone tell me what im doing wrong!

Hi, I've bought a mac pro and installed word for mac, as i wanted to transfer word documents to the new pc. I saved the documents ona usb stick but I cannot open the documents from the stick. What am i doing wrong?
thanks

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
First of all, check that you are looking for your USB drive in the correct place. To do it, first connect the USB drive. Then, open a Finder window (press the left icon of Dock) and choose your USB drive on the Finder sidebar, under "Devices". Finally, just copy the documents you need to the internal disk.
If you want to show the USB drive in Desktop, open Finder menu (on the menu bar) > Preferences > General, and tick "External drives"

Users of Word for Mac: Help on Two Issues!!

I downloaded some fonts I wanted to use in my Word for Mac document. Download went fine and the fonts are happily nestled in the Fonts folder. However, when I open Word, they do not appear on the Font listing. Any thoughts as to how to get them over so I can use them?
Also, I wanted to use the Fonts to create a logo that--ideally--would be a half circle of text over the design. Simple enough, I thought: just go into Toolbox and pull down the styles (like you can in Windows) and choose the style I want.
No such luck (we are dealing with a Mac here so everything is special) but suddenly a "special styles" toolbox appeared with exactly what I wanted--the ability to format a font to a 180' half circle, mirror image text and some other stuff that seemed interesting!
When I went back to the document to format the text the "special styles" toolbox disappeared, never to be found again. Sigh...
Any ideas? Oh, yes, there is a 180' in "Word Art" but I can't get the downloaded fonts into there, so that isn't really a solution.

Okay, here are the details: Word for Mac 2008 Ver. 12.2.8
Yes, I did post to the MS Forums.
Still no answer from either MS or MAC forums.
Sorry, but this doesn't strike me at that tough a question, hence the *****. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who uses Word for Mac and I'm equally sure I'm not the first one to download a font that didn't load into Word for Mac. The answer is out there somewhere....

How can I create a new folder in Word for Mac ?

How can I create a new folder in Word for Mac?

You don't do this in Word. You do it in the OS X Finder.
All you need do in Word is open the file, then select Save As from Word's File menu. Change the destination to your new folder then click on the Save button.
The Finder method is much faster if you have a number of files you want to move. Just remember that to open those moved files in Word, you will have to change the directory from which you will open those files.

Opening Word for Mac on a PC

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for