File Extension DOCX

File Extension DOCX

File Extension DOCX was officially introduced in Microsoft Office 2007 as a default extension for all Microsoft Word document files.

Documents in DOCX files are stored in Office Open XML format. This format was first introduced by Microsoft in 2000 for Microsoft Excel. Since Office 2003 Microsoft Word also began using this format to store document files.

DOCX and Office Open XML format is a major step forward since it stores document in a text based XML format which could be interpreted by multiple applications. Before that Microsoft used DOC binary format which was very hard to parse and convert to other formats.

This format was standardized as an ISO/EIC standard and Microsoft promised not to sue developers which write applications using this format. This allowed competing products to easily import documents produced by Microsoft Office.

There are multiple ways to open DOCX file. The easiest and most straightforward way is to purchase latest Microsoft Office software. At the moment of writing this article Microsoft offers 60 days trials of Microsoft Office software which you can download and use to open DOCX files.

Another option is to use free office software like Open Office. This software has capability of opening DOCX files starting from version 3.

Also you can use online application Google apps to open DOCX documents.

Other office products that can import and display DOCX files include: Apple’s TextEdit, IBM Lotus Notes, Corel Wordperfect.

Similar file extensions

• File Extension XLSX - Microsoft Excel files in Office Open XML format
• File Extension DOC - Older Microsoft Word document format
• File Extension XLS - Older Microsoft Excel document format