Why doesn't my version of Microsoft Office 365 understand .wps files?

Question

I am about to tear my hair out...

I pay $1.99 on a monthly basis for a Microsoft Office subscription and for whatever unknown reason, my version of Microsoft 365 (apparently only web based) simply REFUSES to open, convert, or anything else with a .wps file which was, wait for it.... CREATED with a previous version of Microsoft Office.

Nothing makes it work, NOTHING will open it. Why am I paying $1.99 for something that doesn't do its job? ($1.99 is nothing, but the principle is valid)

Can someone PLEASE tell me why this occurs?

Answer 1

*.wps files could be created by Microsoft Works (not Word). Sometimes, you need additional file converters to open them. See the section on Works converters at Graham Mayor's site at https://www.gmayor.com/downloads.htm.

Alternatively, as Kiki.Z mentioned, the *.wps file could be created by WPS Office which is not a Microsoft product.

Answer 2

As a fellow Office user, I get your frustration!

Your .wps file won’t open in Microsoft 365 because it’s from 'Microsoft Works', which Microsoft stopped supporting in 2009. Being an older format, Microsoft 365 just doesn’t recognize it.

The good news is you can try converting it to a .docx file using an online tool like FreeConvert (https://www.freeconvert.com/wps-to-docx).

I can’t say for sure if it’ll work, since I don’t have any .wps files to test myself, but it’s worth a shot!

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with this third-party software; I just use it often out of personal habit. Similar websites should work just as well.

Answer 3

Dear E.J.Berry.

Thanks for using Microsoft products and posting in the community. 

I understand that you can't open .wps files with the Office 365 version. I understand how you feel and will do my best to help you.

Files with the .wps file extension are Microsoft Works documents or WPS Writer documents. Microsoft Office 365 may not support opening these files directly.

Microsoft discontinued the Works document file format in 2006 and replaced it with .doc. The two are similar in that they both support rich text, tables, and images, but the .wps format lacks some of the more advanced formatting features supported by .doc and .docx.

If you have an older version of Microsoft Works software, try opening the file on that and saving it as another format. If you don't currently have this software installed, it may be difficult to obtain a copy of it given that it has been discontinued.

You can try converting .wps files to .docx or other Office-supported formats using some online file format conversion software.

Thank you for your support and understanding and please feel free to let me know if you have any further updates, thanks.  

Best Regards, 

Kiki.Z - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 4

You’re mixing up two different things here—the .wps file format has nothing to do with Kingsoft’s WPS Office suite.

The .wps format actually comes from Microsoft Works, a Microsoft office suite introduced in the 1980s and discontinued in 2009. However, newer versions of Office, including Microsoft 365, don’t support this older Works format, which is why the file won’t open.