Can not save or open .XML files in word

Question

After downloading an .XML file, and clicking on it at my downloads folder it goes to Word and mentions the following

"There is an XML expansion pack available for the namespace http://www.sat.gob.mx/cfd/4.  Do you want to install this XML expansion pack from http://www.sat.gob.mx/sitio_internet/cfd/4/cfdv40.xsd? I click on Yes and I get "his command is not available on this platform." What can I do to fix this?

Answer 1

The XML expansion pack feature is a legacy Word feature that is not fully supported in Microsoft 365, which is why you see the message "This command is not available on this platform."

The simplest workaround is to right-click the XML file, select Open with, and choose Notepad, Notepad++, Visual Studio Code, or a browser such as Edge. These applications can display the XML content without trying to load Word XML schemas.

If these XML files are Mexican SAT CFDI electronic invoices (which the namespace indicates), Word is not the correct application for viewing them. Use an SAT-compatible CFDI viewer, an accounting system, or a web-based XML viewer designed for CFDI 4.0 files. These tools understand the SAT schema and can display the invoice information properly.

To permanently change the behavior, right-click any .xml file, choose Properties, click Change next to "Opens with," select Notepad or another XML viewer, and apply the change. This prevents future XML files from automatically launching Word and triggering the unsupported XML expansion pack prompt.

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hth

Marcin

Answer 2

This is not an error with the downloaded file or a missing Office component. Current versions of Word no longer support the custom XML markup and XML expansion-pack functionality used by this type of file, so selecting Yes produces the “This command is not available on this platform” message. Reinstalling or repairing Word will not restore that legacy feature.

The XML file should not normally be opened or saved with Word. Right-click the file, select Open with, and choose Microsoft Edge, another web browser, or Notepad to view its original contents. To display the data in rows and columns, open Excel and select Data > Get Data > From File > From XML. Keep the original XML unchanged, especially when it is a tax invoice.