How to Open Microsoft 2007 Files From Microsoft 2003

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Sharing Microsoft Office 2007 Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files with someone using Microsoft 2003 can cause compatibility issues. The recipient of the file may not be able to open the file. There are two remedies. The creator of the Office 2007 file can use the save-as option and change the “save as type“ to 2003 before sharing it, or, the recipient can download a converter from Microsoft. This how-to explains how to download the 2007 to 2003 converter.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

Microsoft Office 2003
Internet Access

Step1

Save Download From the Microsoft link shown in Resources below, click on the download button for the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack. Then click on the Save button and select a location to save the download.

Step2

Saved Download When the download completes, locate the directory where you saved the download. The download name is “FileFormatConverters.” Double click the file name.

Step3

Run Download When you double click the file name, an Open File box will appear. Click on the Run button.

Step4

Accept License After you click the Run button, you will be prompted to accept the Microsoft license terms, which require that you check the box after reading the agreement, and then you should click on the Continue button.

Step5

Installation Complete Several additional pop-ups will appear as the installation process continues. When the installation is complete, click on the OK button.

Step6

To open the Office 2007 Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file, from within the respective software get to the Open dialogue box, change “Files of type” to All Files (since the 2007 version has different file extensions), and then navigate to the directory where you saved the file. You will then be able to double click the file to open it (or click once and then click the Open button).

Tips & Warnings

Not all features in Office 2007 are compatible with Office 2003 so you may not see the same formatting that the author used when creating the file in the Office 2007.