Old Word file cannot be opened - what to do?

If an old file cannot be opened in Word, you can try some settings and workarounds. We can help you with that.

Old Word files cannot be opened - possible solutions

Since there can be many reasons why Word does not open old files, we first suggest problem solutions using the Office settings, add-in or trust center, and Microsoft Fix. This is followed by workarounds with alternative office applications and PDF converters:

1. Open Microsoft Word and navigate in the menu to "File" -> "Options" and click on "Trust Center" at the bottom.
2. Click on "Trust Center Settings ..." -> "Add-Ins" and remove all checkmarks.
3. Also remove all checkmarks under "Settings for access protection".
4. If the file type is blocked by a registry key, a fix from Microsoft that you can get here will help you.
5. If these settings do not help, open the file with alternative office applications such as Open Office or Libre Office.
6. Here you can save the file in another format and either try again to open it with Microsoft Word or continue working directly in Open Office.
7. If you no longer want to edit old Word documents, but only want to print or read them, for example, you can convert the file to a PDF using the alternative Office applications mentioned. The Freeware 7 PDF does this directly from the Explorer.
8. You can find further help on converting Word files to PDF in this practical tip.

Another practical tip will show you where the difference between DOC and DOCX lies.