I still have 2003 Word documents and I want to be able to view and edit them in Word 2010.
Word 2010 is a clever little thing, and knows that I need to do this. It also has a fancy name for this, are you ready?
Today’s new term is “compatibility mode”.
How do you know if a file you receive is in 2003 or 2010? The answer is in the suffix.
2003 Word files have .doc at the end of the file name.
2010 Word files have .docx at the end of the file name.
If you receive a 2003 doc and want to edit it in your Word 2010 version – 2010 will kindly do this for you by opening the file in (ready for this) compatibility mode. 2010 will then remove the 2010 functions and enhancements that are not compatible to the 2003 version. You can make all the changes you want, save it, send it….and it will all be in 2003.
You’ll know that you are in compatibility mode because at the top of your ribbon it will remind you.
Word Course: Compatibility Mode in Word 2010