Convert Documents to Any Extension

Microsoft Word's legacy binary format (Word 97-2003).

Best for opening older files and legacy systems.

Still opens almost everywhere, but DOCX is smaller.

Microsoft Word's XML-based format, 2007 onward.

Best for everyday editing and sharing with Word users.

The right default for anything new.

The OpenDocument text format from OASIS.

Best for LibreOffice and OpenOffice workflows.

An open standard that Word can also read.

Rich Text Format, Microsoft's portable text format.

Best when the other program cannot read DOCX.

Very compatible, but files run noticeably large.

A Word document that carries VBA macros.

Best for templates and forms that automate work.

Many systems block macro files by default.

The legacy Word template format (97-2003).

Best for reusing an old document blueprint.

You open it to create a new file, not to edit.

The modern Word template format, 2007 onward.

Best for standard layouts your team reuses.

Same idea as DOT, XML-based and macro-free.

A Word template that also carries macros.

Best for reusable documents that automate steps.

Combines DOTX structure with VBA scripting.

The native format of the AbiWord word processor.

Best for files created in AbiWord itself.

Rare elsewhere, so convert it before sharing.

Applix Word's format from the Applixware suite.

Best for recovering documents from old archives.

Largely historical, so convert it forward.

KWord's format from the old KOffice suite.

Best for opening legacy KOffice documents.

Superseded by Calligra and ODT.

StarOffice Writer's format, the ancestor of ODT.

Best for reading pre-OpenOffice archives.

Convert it to ODT or DOCX to keep working.

Plain unformatted text, ASCII or Unicode.

Best for notes, logs, and raw readable data.

Opens anywhere, but keeps no formatting at all.

Excel's legacy binary workbook (97-2003).

Best for older spreadsheets and legacy tools.

Capped at 65,536 rows; XLSX handles far more.

Excel's XML-based workbook, 2007 onward.

Best for everyday spreadsheets and data sharing.

Supports over a million rows per sheet.

The OpenDocument spreadsheet format.

Best for LibreOffice Calc and open workflows.

An open standard that Excel can also open.

Plain-text rows with commas between values.

Best for moving data between apps and databases.

Universally importable, but holds no formulas.

PowerPoint's legacy binary deck (97-2003).

Best for opening older presentations.

PPTX produces smaller files and is preferred now.

PowerPoint's XML-based deck, 2007 onward.

Best for building and sharing slide decks.

Better compression than the old PPT format.

The OpenDocument presentation format.

Best for LibreOffice Impress presentations.

PowerPoint can open it too.

Adobe's fixed-layout document format.

Best for sharing, printing, and final versions.

Looks identical everywhere, but is hard to edit.

A format built for scanned pages and books.

Best for archives of scanned magazines and texts.

Compresses scans far smaller than PDF.

Microsoft's fixed-layout answer to PDF.

Best for documents produced by Windows printing.

Support is thin, so PDF is the safer target.

The Ecma-standardised version of XPS.

Best for newer Windows fixed-layout output.

Still worth converting to PDF for sharing.

Markdown, plain text with light formatting marks.

Best for READMEs, notes, and documentation.

Tiny files that convert cleanly into HTML.

The markup language behind every web page.

Best when the document should open in a browser.

Keeps text, links, tables, and styling.

The open e-book standard, built on HTML and CSS.

Best for e-readers, phones, and tablets.

Text reflows to fit any screen size.

DocBook XML, a semantic documentation format.

Best for technical manuals and software docs.

Stores structure and meaning, not visual styling.