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Word 98

Anonymous
2021-03-10T13:46:42+00:00

How can documents in "Word 98" on a Mac iBook system 9 be opened on MacBook Pro running Big Sur?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Jim G 134K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-03-10T18:35:59+00:00

    Hi

    There is a free desktop suite called LibreOffice that can open your old files. Once opened, you can use File > Save As and re-save them in the current file format.

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  1. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 435K Reputation points
    2021-03-10T14:54:24+00:00

    Big Sur is relatively irrelevant :-) The concern is that you are using a more current edition of Mac Office software which no longer provides the necessary filters for the deprecated variety of .doc file type produced by the Office 98 generation of Word.

    One option is to open the files using a current Windows edition of Word, then converting them to the .docx file type. You may also be able to use the free LibreOffice software to open them & Save As in the .docx file type.

    If there are too many to deal with individually you may be able to use an online conversion service [I haven't used it but I understand Zamzar to be pretty good] or someone here may be able to provide an automated batch conversion procedure.

    Either way there may be some reformatting required depending on the nature of the content & its document structure.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-03-10T14:38:28+00:00

    Hi Ronald,

    Thanks for posting in the community.

    Normally, you can open the .doc files in Word directly and the Word application will in the Compatibility Mode automatically. May I know whether you could open the .doc file (File> Open)? If not, is there any error message pop on?

    If you have any updates, please feel free and come back to share with us.

    Regards,

    George

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