Can/should older Word files be upgraded into Office 365?

Hello ,

I'm Shalom and I'd happily help you with your question. In this forum, we are Microsoft consumers just like yourself.

Yes, it's generally a good idea to upgrade your older Word files to the latest version of Word when using Office 365, especially if you want to take advantage of the latest features, compatibility, and security improvements. Here are some reasons why you might want to consider upgrading your Word files:

1. Compatibility: Newer versions of Word may have features, formatting options, and functionalities that are not available in older versions. By upgrading your files, you ensure that they are fully compatible with Office 365 and other modern versions of Word.
2. Security: Older software versions, like Word 2010, may have security vulnerabilities that have been addressed in newer versions. Upgrading your files can help protect your documents from potential security risks.
3. Collaboration: If you plan to collaborate with others using Office 365 or share your documents online, having your files in the latest format ensures seamless collaboration and fewer compatibility issues.
4. Access to New Features: Office 365 regularly receives updates with new features and improvements. Upgrading your files allows you to access and use these new features to enhance your documents.

To upgrade your Word files to the latest version of Word in Office 365, follow these steps:

1. Open Word 2010: Open the Word 2010 application on your computer.
2. Open the File: Open the Word file you want to upgrade.
3. Save As: Click on "File" in the top-left corner, then choose "Save As."
4. Choose a Location: Select a location where you want to save the upgraded file.
5. Choose File Type: In the "Save as type" dropdown menu, select a newer Word format, such as "Word Document (*.docx)." This format is compatible with Office 365.
6. Save: Click the "Save" button. This will create a copy of your file in the new Word format while preserving the original in the old format.
7. Repeat for Other Files: Repeat these steps for any other Word files you want to upgrade.

Once you've upgraded your files to the .docx format or other compatible formats, you can open and edit them in Office 365 without any issues. Keep in mind that, while Office 365 can open older .doc files, it's recommended to save them in the .docx format for the best compatibility and functionality.

Best Regards, Shalom

Hi Nancy,

Shalom has given you the advantages of converting older documents to the latest format. There are also reasons not to convert, or at least not to convert all of them. Before I get to that, though, please understand that the conversion will not prevent files from opening in Word 2010 when you use certain methods of opening them.

If you start Word of Microsoft 365 without specifying a document, and you get a new blank document, you can then use the File > Open dialog (Ctrl+O) to open any Word document -- old or new -- and it will stay in 365. If it's a document that has not been converted from Word 2010, the title bar will display the document name with "Compatibility Mode", and features that were introduced after Office 2010 will be disabled. If you want to use any of those features in the current document, go to File > Info > Convert. That will affect only the current document.

If you go to a folder in Windows Explorer and double-click a word document, the result depends on the settings in your Windows registry. Evidently, your registry tells Windows that the Open command for a .docx file should start Word 2010. What to do next depends on whether you want to keep Office 2010 and the Microsoft 365 Office programs side-by-side and use both of them.

If you don't want to keep 2010, completely uninstall Office 2010. Then do an online repair of Microsoft 365.

If you do want both versions, first use Windows Explorer to verify the path to the Word executable file, which should be "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\WINWORD.EXE". If you don't see it there, click the Windows Start button and type Word. When that appears at the top of the panel, right-click it and click "Open file location" -- that will open Explorer to the folder that holds a shortcut to the actual program. Right-click the shortcut icon and click Properties. In the Properties dialog, the Target box contains the correct path. In either case, select the path (including the double quotes) and copy it to the clipboard.

Now press the Windows key and the R key together to open the Run box. Paste in the copied path and add a space and \r so it looks like this:

.

Click OK. You won't see anything happen on the screen, but you've just told Word 365 to rewrite its registry entries. That should include the one that controls which program opens Word files from a double-click.

A reason not to convert Word 2010 documents to Microsoft 365 format: When Microsoft released Office 2013, Word had a new layout engine, the part of the program that determines the position of each letter and symbol by combining information from the font and the currently selected printer driver. Although the results rarely look different, it sometimes happens that a line of text is slightly shorter or longer in the newer versions (2013 and all later ones) than in 2010 (and earlier). If the line was already very close to filling the width between the margins, the position of the break between that line and the next one could move by a whole word. In a severe situation, that could cause all of the line breaks from that point to the end of the paragraph to change, and could even make the paragraph one line longer or shorter -- leading to a change in where a page break occurs.

I have thousands and thousands of Word files. There has to be an easier way other than doing them one by one

Hi Angie, unless you have a particular reason to 'convert' older document leave then as they are. I have hundreds of Office 2003 .doc files that live happily on my computer. I cannot think any reason to convert them.

1. Word 2010 files are already in .docx format. You do not have to convert them to use them.
2. Word documents should not really be re-used. If you need to re-use something with updating and different information, that something should be stored as a Template, not a Document. Templates in Microsoft Word

If your problem is that when you double-click on a file what starts is Word 2010. That has to do with your file associations. Jay has told you how to reset that to the Office 365 application.

I have thousands and thousands of Word files. There has to be an easier way other than doing them one by one