File formats
This page has entries for the various formats and document applications that LibreOffice and Microsoft Office can open. The list is still a work in progress.
Word processor (text editor)
ODF Text Documents
This file format is XML-based (extensible markup language) for text documents. It was developed by OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) and based on Openoffice.org XML, the format created by Sun Microsystems (now defunct corporation) that originally created Openoffice.org.
Many text editors can create, open, and edit documents in those formats. These include both LibreOffice Writer and Microsoft Word. Google Drive can convert documents in this format to GDOC.
ODF Text Document Template
This is the XML-based format used for creating templates for text documents, created by OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) and based on Openoffice.org XML, the format created by Sun Microsystems (now defunct corporation) that originally created Openoffice.org.
Many text editors can create, open, and edit documents in those formats. These include both LibreOffice Writer and Microsoft Word.
OpenOffice.org 1.0 Text Document
This was the original file format for text documents, created by Sun Microsystems (now defunct corporation), as the primary format OpenOffice.org Writer. Writer was an office application created in 2000 that became one of the most popular open-source office applications.
Basing it on XML allows the content of a document to be examined, regardless of the application used. While the format was not designed by OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards), it was submitted to the organization from the beginning for standardization purposes.
OpenOffice.org 1.0 Text Document Template
This was the original file format for templates for text documents, created by Sun Microsystems (now defunct corporation), as the primary format OpenOffice.org Writer. Writer was an office application created in 2000 that became one of the most popular open-source office applications.
Basing it on XML allows the content of a document to be examined, regardless of the application used. While the format was not designed by OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards), it was submitted to the organization from the beginning for standardization purposes.
Flat XML ODF Text Document
This is like ODF Text Document but it stores all of the elements in one XML document. LibreOffice can open this type of document. However, Microsoft Word cannot.
Unified Office Format text
This is an open-source format that was developed in China for text documents by the developed by the Chinese Office Software Work Group (COSWG). It is based on Chinese XML label customs.
LibreOffice allows you to save in this format. Both LibreOffice and Microsoft Word 2016 can open a document in this format. However they support little of the formatting, so even simple documents will not appear as intended.
Microsoft Word 2007-2013 XML
This is Microsoft’s standard format for text documents. Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, and most text editors can open a document in this format.
In 2005, Microsoft submitted this new format, known as Office Open XML, to the ECMA International Technical Committee, and it was standardized. The International Standardized Organization (ISO) later developed its own standard for the format, ISO/IEC 29500:2008. However, the ISO standard implemented three versions: ECMA, Transitional, and Strict.
This is the Transitional standard. It is the default standard that Microsoft Word saves documents in. It is also the DOCX format that is listed as Microsoft Word 2007-2013 XML in a list when you save a document in a text editor, such as Word or LibreOffice Writer.
Microsoft Word and other text editors have another DOCX format in their Save lists, called Office Open XML Text. This is the Strict version. It has not been fully implemented yet.
The XML files can be accessed by right clicking on a Word document and extracting it. This will create a folder with multiple XML files.
Microsoft Word 2007-2013 XML Template
This is Microsoft’s standard format for templates for text documents. Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, and most text editors can open a document in this format.
In 2005, Microsoft submitted this new format, known as Office Open XML, to the ECMA International Technical Committee, and it was standardized. The International Standardized Organization (ISO) later developed its own standard for the format, ISO/IEC 29500:2008. However, the ISO standard implemented three versions: ECMA, Transitional, and Strict.
This is the Transitional standard. It is the default standard that Microsoft Word saves documents in. It is also the DOCX format that is listed as Microsoft Word 2007-2013 XML in a list when you save a document in a text editor, such as Word or LibreOffice Writer.
Microsoft Word and other text editors have another DOCX format in their Save lists, called Office Open XML Text. This is the Strict version. It has not been fully implemented yet.
The XML files can be accessed by right clicking on a Word document and extracting it. This will create a folder with multiple XML files.
Microsoft Word 2003 XML
This was Microsoft’s first XML-based format for Microsoft Word. It stores the different parts of the document in a single XML file. Microsoft Word 2007-2013 XML stores the different parts of a document in multiple XML files. It was introduced in Microsoft Office 2003, released in Fall 2003.
LibreOffice and Microsoft Word 2016 for Windows will save the document as a single XML file, that could easily be opened by Notepad or another application that can handle simple text or a Web browser.
Microsoft Word 2003 XML Template
This was Microsoft’s first XML-based template format for Microsoft Word. It stores the different parts of the document in a single XML file. Microsoft Word 2007-2013 XML stores the different parts of a document in multiple XML files. It was introduced in Microsoft Office 2003, released in Fall 2003.
LibreOffice and Microsoft Word 2016 for Windows will save the document as a single XML file, that could easily be opened by Notepad or another application that can handle simple text or a Web browser.
Microsoft Word 97-2003
This is for the Microsoft Word binary format that was used with Word 97-2003. It is different from the earlier versions of the format. This is a compound binary format. A Compound File is made up of a number of virtual streams. These are collections of data that behave as a linear stream, although their on-disk format may be fragmented. Virtual streams can be user data, or they can be control structures used to maintain the file. Note that the file itself can also be considered a virtual stream.
LibreOffice can open documents in this format. Microsoft Word 2016 can open them in compatibility mode.
Microsoft Word 97-2003 Template
This is for the Microsoft Word binary format for Word templates that was used with Word 97-2003. It is different from the earlier versions of the format. This is a compound binary format. A Compound File is made up of a number of virtual streams. These are collections of data that behave as a linear stream, although their on-disk format may be fragmented. Virtual streams can be user data, or they can be control structures used to maintain the file. Note that the file itself can also be considered a virtual stream.
LibreOffice can open documents in this format. Microsoft Word 2016 can open them in compatibility mode.
Microsoft Word 6.0/95
This is the DOC format version that was released with Word 6.0 in 1993. Microsoft updated the format one more time after this before switching to the XML version of the format.
LibreOffice can open documents in this format, but Microsoft Word 2016 cannot open them.
Microsoft Word 95 Template
This is the template format for Word that was released with Word 6.0 in 1993. Microsoft updated the format one more time after this before switching to the XML version of the format.
LibreOffice can open documents in this format, but Microsoft Word 2016 cannot open them.
Microsoft WinWord 1/2/5
WinWord was used by Microsoft as its name for the Windows version of Word, when versions of the word processor was made for several operating systems in the 1980s. LibreOffice can open documents that were created with the first version of the word processor.
Microsoft Works Document
This office suite was Microsoft Office’s little brother. It had less features and applications than Office. A word processor, spreadsheet, and database composed the suite. It originated from MouseWorks, which was designed for the Classic Mac operating system, but Bill Gates convinced the creator to license it to Microsoft as well.
The first four versions were designed for Mac, and up to version 3.0 was available for MS-DOS. Several versions. Later versions added more applications and were included in different packages. The suite was discontinued in 2007.
LibreOffice can open its file formats, but Microsoft Office 2016 cannot open the formats.
DocBook
This is a semantic markup language for technical documents. It is an XML language, that contains elements for technical documents.
Hangul WP 97
This is a text editor designed by Hancom Inc., a South Korean company. It’s format extension is hwp. It can process Middle Korean.
LibreOffice can open up to version 97, but it cannot open later versions.
HTML Document (Writer)
LibreOffice Writer can save documents in HTML formats, and it can open them in design mode rather than code view.
Lotus WordPro Document
Lotus WordPro is a word processor that was first released in 1988 by the Lotus Software company. The company was bought by IBM in 1995. WordPro was last updated in 2007.
LibreOffice can open WordPro (lwp) documents. However, Microsoft Word cannot.
Rich Text
This format, called RTF for short, was created by Microsoft in 1987, mainly for the purpose of making documents compatible with multiple Microsoft products. Many different types of applications from various organizations also can read and write RTF documents – from relational databases to email clients. Development of the standard was discontinued in 2008.
T602 Document
These documents were originally created bt the T602 text editor, which was popular in the Czech Republic in the 1990s. The file extension is 602. LibreOffice can open and edit these documents.
Text
Text – Choose Encoding
WordPerfect Document
WordPerfect is a popular word processor, mainly used in the legal community, for Microsoft Windows. The application has been around since 1979 and has run on numerous operating systems. It was one of the first word processors, but it was not released for Windows until 1992 with version 5.2.
Before OpenOffice.org was released for Linux distros, Corel made several versions for the distros. There were also versions for Mac Classic and several other operating systems.
Both Word for Windows and LibreOffice Writer can open the wpd format.
Office Open XML Text
Office Open XML Text Template
AbiWord Document
This is a word processor that runs on Windows and various Linux distros. It was first released in 1998. The native file format is abw.
LibreOffice can open documents in this format.
Apple Pages 4
Pages 4 was released with iWork ’09. A document created in this version of Pages is bundled, so if the document extension is changed to .zip, there will be a folder containing XML and other documents containing the contents of the document.
Broadband eBook
ClarisWorks/AppleWorks Text Document
FictionBook 2.0
Microsoft Write
This was a basic word processor that was available for Windows 1.0, Atari ST, and early Macs. It was replaced by Notepad in Windows 95.
The file extension is wri. LibreOffice can open its documents.
Legacy Mac Text Document
MacWrite Document
MacWrite was bundled with the original Macintosh computer. It was discontinued in 1994 with version Pro 1.5. LibreOffice can open this version. The file extension is .macwrite
Microsoft Word for Mac (v1-v5)
Microsoft Works for Mac Text Documents (v1-v4)
Mariner Write Mac Classic v1.6-v3.5
PalmDoc eBook
Palm Text Document
Plucker eBook
Plucker is an offline Web and free e-book reader for Palm OS based handheld devices, Windows Mobile (Pocket PC) devices, and other PDAs.
LibreOffice can open documents in this format.
WriteNow Document
WriteNow was one of the original word processors created for Mac 1984, and it was the primary word processor for NeXT computers.
PDF – Portable Document Format
This format was originally created by Adobe, Inc. It was designed to share documents reliably and be independent of hardware, software, and operating systems. In 2008, it was released as an open standard.
Both LibreOffice and Microsoft Office support opening and generating PDFs. Both have different limitations for handling PDFs. See the comparison here.
Spreadsheet
ODF Spreadsheet
ODF Spreadsheet Template
OpenOffice.org 1.0 Spreadsheet
OpenOffice.org 1.0 Spreadsheet Template
Flat XML ODF Spreadsheet
Unified Office Format spreadsheet
Microsoft 2007-2013 XML
Microsoft 2007-2013 XML Template
Microsoft Excel 2007 Binary
Microsoft Excel 2003 XML
Microsoft Excel 97-2003
Microsoft Excel 97-2003 Template
Microsoft Excel 4.x – 5.0/95
Microsoft Excel 4.x – 5.0/95 Templates
Data Interchange Format
dBASE
HTML Document (Calc)
Lotus 1-2-3
Quattro Pro 6.0
Rich Text Format (Calc)
SYLK
Text CSV
Web Page Query (Calc)
Office Open XML Spreadsheet
Office Open XML Spreadsheet Template
Apple Numbers 2
Microsoft Excel 2007-2016 XML (macro enabled)
ClarisWorks/AppleWorks Spreadsheet
ClarisResolve Document
Gnumeric Spreadsheet
Microsoft Works Document
Legacy Mac Database
Legacy Mac Spreadsheet
Microsoft Works for Mac Spreadsheet
Lotus Document
QuattroPro Document
Presentation
ODF Presentation
ODF Presentation Template
ODF Drawing (Impress)
OpenOffice.org 1.0 Presentation
OpenOffice.org 1.0 Presentation Template
OpenOffice.org 1.0 Drawing (Impress)
Flat XML ODF Presentation
Unified Office Format presentation
Microsoft PowerPoint 2007-2013 XML
Microsoft PowerPoint 2007-2013 XML AutoPlay
Microsoft PowerPoint 2007-2013 XML Template
Microsoft PowerPoint 97-2003
Microsoft PowerPoint 97-2003 AutoPlay
Microsoft PowerPoint 97-2003 Template
CGM – Computer Graphic Metalife
Office Open XML Presentation
Office Open XML Presentation AutoPlay
Office Open XML Presentation Template
Apple Keynote 5
ClarisWorks/AppleWorks Presentation
Legacy Mac Presentation
PDF – Portable Document Format (Impress)