Understanding File Format Issues

Word 2003 saves Word documents by default in the Word file format that is also embraced by Word 2000 and Word 2002. If you plan to use an earlier version of Word (such as Word 6.0) on another computer or will share Word documents with users who still use an earlier version of Word, you will need to save your documents in the appropriate file format.

The easiest way to manage file formats in Word is to save all documents in the Word file format and then use the Save As command to save documents in a format that will be used by collaborators who use an earlier version of the Word software.

To save a document in a file format compatible with earlier versions of Word, follow these steps:

1. Open the document that you want to save in a different file format ( File, Open ).

2. Select File , then Save As to open the Save As dialog box as shown in Figure 2.2.

   Figure 2.2. Select a different file format in the Save As dialog box.

   

3. Click the Save as Type drop-down box in the Save As dialog box and select the Word 97-2002&6.0/95-RTF file format. This file format is compatible with any version of Word from Word 95 to Word 2003.

4. Type a new filename for the document (if necessary).

5. Click Save to save the document in the new file format.