Old Word docs

dasadler
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Old Word docs

Post by dasadler »

I have Office 2016 yet when I go to file explorer and double click on a Word 2007 document, it causes Word 2007 to launch and
open the document.

Is there a way to convert Office 2007 documents to Office 2016 documents? The file icons for the old files still have the Office 2007 icons.
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StuartR
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Re: Old Word docs

Post by StuartR »

Do you also have Office 2007 installed?
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dasadler
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Re: Old Word docs

Post by dasadler »

yes
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Rudi
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Re: Old Word docs

Post by Rudi »

Just a guess, but maybe try this:
  1. Open Word 2016.
  2. Use the File > Open command to open the document in question.
  3. Once opened in Word 2016, go to the File > Info and click on the "Convert" button.
  4. Choose OK to the prompt that appears.
  5. Save and close the file.
Test double clicking on it in Explorer to see if it opens in Word 2016 now?
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dasadler
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Re: Old Word docs

Post by dasadler »

It is installed but when it launches, it goes through a 'configuration' process before it opens.
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Re: Old Word docs

Post by dasadler »

I do not have a convert button. I have a Protect Document, Inspect Document, and Manage Document. None of these have a convert submenu
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Rudi
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Re: Old Word docs

Post by Rudi »

OK. Disregard my suggestion as it was only a guess. :smile:
The convert button will only appear if the application identifies features in the document that can be converted to the newer version.

Can I ask if you really need to keep Office 2007 on your PC? Uninstalling it will obviously avoid this issue.
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Rudi

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dasadler
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Re: Old Word docs

Post by dasadler »

I was holding the old office until I was satisfied that I had duplicated a lot of customizations. Once I am satisfied, I will remove it. I need to be a little more aggressive about doing that.

Thanks for the help.
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Rudi
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Re: Old Word docs

Post by Rudi »

In the interim, it might help if Word 2016 is open before you double click the Explorer icon. Else rather open the file from the Word 2016 interface (File > Open), or drag the Explorer icon of the document onto the Word 2016 interface.

maybe one of our Word MVP's will have some additional advice.
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stuck
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Re: Old Word docs

Post by stuck »

As Rudi suggested, first open Word 2016, then click File | Open, browse to the file and open it. When it has opened the title bar will (as you'd expect) show the file name but it will probably also say 'compatibility mode'. If you then do a 'Save As' you should get a pop-up about saving the file in the latest file format (unless you've previously seen such a dialog box and ticked the don't show again' box). Ensure you resave it as a .docx.

Once you've done that conversion then when you double click the file in Explorer it should open in Word 2016.

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Jay Freedman
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Re: Old Word docs

Post by Jay Freedman »

dasadler wrote:It is installed but when it launches, it goes through a 'configuration' process before it opens.
I have a page on my website about preventing the reconfiguration at startup: https://jay-freedman.info/norereg.html.

Getting control of which version of Word responds when you double-click a document file can be a giant PITA. The only method I've found that permanently works is to modify several registry entries. The main one is the (Default) value under the key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Word.Document.12\shell\Open\command, which has to be set to the full path to the desired version of WinWord.exe. You may or may not have to delete the "command" value in the same key, which involves some weird encoding; I've never noticed a problem if it isn't there. You may also change the path in the keys for the other commands under the "shell" node, as well as the corresponding values under Word.Document.8 (the one for .doc files), Word.DocumentMacroEnabled.12, and Word.Template.12.

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kdock
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Re: Old Word docs

Post by kdock »

Can you right-click the file in File Explorer and choose Word 2016 through the Open with... option? Perhaps clicking the button to always use that program when opening documents of that type will work?

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dasadler
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Re: Old Word docs

Post by dasadler »

Thank you - these are all good and viable options. I think my best path, though, is to just get off the fence and fully embrace Office 2016 and delete office 2007... Saving Visio, of course... cannot afford to bring that up to date now that I am retired.
Don