Can I Open Microsoft Office Documents On A Mac

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When you create a document or template in Office for Mac, Office automatically saves the file in Open XML Format, which differs from the format used by Word 2004 for Mac or earlier and Word 2003 for Windows or earlier.

How to open, work with or convert documents

Everyone working on a computer knows Microsoft Office and its document formats. Word documents, Excel spreadsheets or PowerPoint presentations are pretty common and most people known that they can open them in their respective programs.

However, not everyone is familiar with formats from other, mainly open source alternatives, such as Apache OpenOffice or LibreOffice, so in this article we will briefly review the basics about Microsoft Office and OpenOffice documents, how to open them and convert them.

About Microsoft Office documents

Most people are familiar with the standard .docx and .xlsx files from Word and Excel, but there are several variants of these formats for files with macros (.docm) and (.xlsm) and template variants (.dotx, .dotm, .xltx, .xltm).

Other Office programs, such as PowerPoint and Access have their own sets of dedicated file formats, which you can all check in our list of Microsoft Office formats.

How to open Microsoft Office files

In case you have MS Office installed in your computer, you can easily open Word, Excel or PowerPoint files easily with a single click. But what if you do not have access to Office? Well, not everything is lost.

If you have Microsoft Account, for example as part of OneDrive service, you can easily access Microsoft Word Online and Microsoft Excel Online.


Online version of Microsoft Word available for users with Microsoft Account

Last viable option would be to use some of the MS Office alternatives like Apache OpenOffice (OpenOffice.org), LibreOffice and many more, that typically support Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats. Some issues might be caused because of formatting, but unless you do heavy changes to the original document, everything should be fine.

Viewing of Office files

In case you just want to view some MS Office document, Microsoft provides a set of utilities purely for viewing that you can download for free from their website.

Microsoft Office document conversion

Sometimes you just want to export your Word document or Excel spreadsheet to PDF so you can easily share it. Without MS Office or similar software, the only option would be to look for a software converter that can convert your document or check one of the online document converters.

About OpenDocument documents

Many productivity suites adopted formats in so called Open Document Format for Office Applications (ODF), an XML-based file format for spreadsheets, charts, presentations and word processing documents that was developed with the aim of providing an open, XML-based file format specification for office applications.

Users familiar with Apache OpenOffice or LibreOffice surely known .odt (text document) or .ods (spreadsheet) files, but there are also .odp (presentation) files, .odg (graphic files) and .odf (mathematics) files that work pretty much like their counterparts from Microsoft Office.

How to open OpenDocument files

Any of the previously mentioned file types can be opened in almost any modern office productivity suites, including programs from Microsoft Office. If you need, you can easily download and install some of the free Office alternatives, such as Apache OpenOffice (formerly OpenOffice.org) or LibreOffice, but plenty of other similar office productivity bundles exist.


Apache OpenOffice launch menu

OpenDocument conversion

The very same document converters for MS Office formats can be usually used for OpenDocument files as well and same goes for various online converters. You can also convert OpenDocument files to MS Office formats and vice versa in case you are accustomed to work in a particular program.

You can convert and open documents in Pages on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac. If you don't have an Apple device, you can use Pages online at iCloud.com.

Convert and open documents in Pages on iPhone or iPad

Can I Open Microsoft Office Documents On A Mac Pro

You can work with a variety of file formats in Pages on your iPhone or iPad. Check which formats are compatible with Pages on iPhone and iPad.

Convert a Pages document in Pages on iPhone or iPad

If you want to open a Pages document in another app like Microsoft Word, use Pages to convert the document to an appropriate format.

  1. Open the document that you want to convert, then tap the More button .
  2. Tap Export.
  3. Choose a format for your document.
  4. If you chose EPUB, set any additional options.
  5. Choose how you want to send your document, like with Mail or Messages.

Open a file in Pages on iPhone or iPad

To open a file like a Microsoft Word document in Pages on iPhone or iPad, tap the file in the document manager. If you don’t see the document manager, tap Documents (on iPad) or the back button (on iPhone), then tap the file that you want to open. If a file is dimmed, it’s not in a compatible format.

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You can also open a file in Pages from a different app like the Files app, or from an email:

  1. Open the other app, then select the document or attachment.
  2. Tap the Share button .
  3. Tap Copy to Pages. The original file remains intact.

When the file opens, you might get a message that the document will look different. For example, Pages notifies you when fonts are missing. Tap Done to open the document in Pages.

Convert and open documents in Pages for Mac

You can work with a variety of file formats in Pages for Mac. Check which formats are compatible.

Convert a Pages document in Pages for Mac

If you want to open a Pages document in another app like Microsoft Word, use Pages to convert the document to an appropriate format.

  1. Open the Pages document that you want to convert.
  2. Choose File > Export To, then select the format.
  3. In the window that appears, you can choose a different format or set up any additional options. For example, you can require a password to open an exported PDF, choose to use the table of contents in an exported EPUB book, or choose the format for the exported Word document.
  4. Click Next.
  5. Enter a name for your file, then choose a location for the file.
  6. Click Export.

To send a file in a specific format through Mail, Messages, AirDrop, or Notes, choose Share > Send a Copy, choose how you want to send the document, then choose a format.

Open a file in Pages for Mac

You can open a file from the Finder or from the Pages app:

  • From the Finder, Control-click the file, then choose Open With > Pages. If Pages is the only word processor on your Mac, you can just double-click the file.
  • From the Pages for Mac app, choose File > Open, select the file, then click Open. If a file is dimmed, it’s not a compatible format.
Can i open ms office files on mac

When the file opens, you might get a message that the document will look different. For example, Pages notifies you when fonts are missing. You might see also see warnings when you open documents created in older versions of Pages.

Open and convert documents in Pages for iCloud

Pages for iCloud lets you open, edit, and share your files from a supported browser on a Mac or PC. Check which file formats are compatible with Pages for iCloud. If you don't have an Apple device, learn how to create an Apple ID.

Convert a Pages document in Pages for iCloud

  1. Sign in to iCloud.com with your Apple ID.
  2. Click Pages.
  3. In the document manager, click the More button on the file you want to convert, then choose Download a Copy. If you have the document open, click the Tools button in the toolbar, then choose Download a Copy.*
  4. Choose a format for the document. The file starts begins to download to your browser’s download location.

* To convert your document to an EPUB book, open the document, click the Tools button in the toolbar, then choose Download a Copy.

Open a file in Pages for iCloud

  1. Sign in to iCloud.com with your Apple ID.
  2. Click Pages.
  3. Drag the file you want to upload into the Pages document manager in your browser. Or click the Upload button , select the file, then click Choose.
  4. Double-click the file in the document manager.

Check file format compatibility

Can I Open Microsoft Office Documents On A Mac Free

Formats you can open in Pages

You can open these file formats in Pages on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and online at iCloud.com:

  • All Pages versions
  • Microsoft Word: Office Open XML (.docx) and Office 97 or later (.doc)
  • Rich Text Format (.rtf/.rtfd)
  • Plain Text files (.txt)

Formats you can convert Pages documents into

Pages on iPhone or iPad:

  • Microsoft Word: Office Open XML (.docx)
  • Rich Text Format (.rtf/.rtfd)
  • PDF
  • EPUB

Can You Open Microsoft Word Documents On A Mac

Pages for Mac:

Can I Open Microsoft Office Documents On A Mac

  • Microsoft Word: Office Open XML (.docx) and Office 97 or later (.doc)
  • Rich Text Format (.rtf/.rtfd)
  • Plain Text files (.txt)
  • PDF
  • EPUB
  • Pages ‘09

Can I Open Microsoft Word Documents On A Mac

Pages for iCloud:

Open Office Free Download

  • Microsoft Word: Office Open XML (.docx)
  • PDF
  • EPUB

Learn more

  • Pages on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and online at iCloud.com use the same file format. If you create or edit a document in Pages on one platform, you can open it in Pages on any of the other platforms.
  • You can update to current versions of Pages on your iPhone or iPad from the App Store. To update Pages on your Mac, use the App Store app on your Mac.
  • If you convert a Pages document into Pages ’09-compatible document, learn more about changes that happen when you export to iWork ’09.