File extension DOC

File type Microsoft Word 97 To 2003 Document Format
Developer Microsoft
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What is a DOC file?

The .DOC format stands for Microsoft’s proprietary word document. This file type is arguably one of the most popular file type in the computing world today.

The DOC is the previous version of the current DOCX but both file have a very similar structure and the word software offers compatibility for both the versions. The DOC files became very popular for business writing in the early era of IT boom and continue to be the top choice for written text files as the file type offers plenty of formatting and design options apart from the simple text writing which other word processing software fail to do so.

Program(s) that can open the .DOC file

How to open DOC files

If you cannot open the DOC file on your computer - there may be several reasons. The first and most important reason (the most common) is the lack of a suitable software that supports DOC among those that are installed on your device.

A very simple way to solve this problem is to find and download the appropriate application. The first part of the task has already been done – the software supporting the DOC file can be found in the table. Now just download and install the appropriate application.

Possible problems with the DOC format files

The inability to open and operate the DOC file does not necessarily mean that you do not have an appropriate software installed on your computer. There may be other problems that also block our ability to operate the Microsoft Word 97 To 2003 Document Format file. Below is a list of possible problems.

  • Corruption of a DOC file which is being opened
  • Incorrect links to the DOC file in registry entries.
  • Accidental deletion of the description of the DOC from the Windows registry
  • Incomplete installation of an application that supports the DOC format
  • The DOC file which is being opened is infected with an undesirable malware.
  • The computer does not have enough hardware resources to cope with the opening of the DOC file.
  • Drivers of equipment used by the computer to open a DOC file are out of date.

If you are sure that all of these reasons do not exist in your case (or have already been eliminated), the DOC file should operate with your programs without any problem. If the problem with the DOC file has not been solved, it may be due to the fact that in this case there is also another rare problem with the DOC file. In this case, the only you can do is to ask for assistance of a professional staff.

Similar extensions

.abw AbiWord Document Format
.ac AC3D Geometry Format
.aim AIMMS ASCII Model Format
.ans ANSI Text File (ANSI Art)
.apt Almost Plain Text Format
.asc ASCII Text Characters Format
.ascii ASCII Text Characters Format
.aty Association Type Placeholder
How to associate the file with an installed software?

If you want to associate a file with a new program (e.g. my-file.DOC) you have two ways to do it. The first and the easiest one is to right-click on the selected DOC file. From the drop-down menu select "Choose default program", then click "Browse" and find the desired program. The whole operation must be confirmed by clicking OK. The second and more difficult to do is associate the DOC file extension to the corresponding software in the Windows Registry.

Is there one way to open unknown files?

Many files contain only simple text data. It is possible that while opening unknown files (e.g. DOC) with a simple text editor like Windows Notepad will allow us to see some of the data encoded in the file. This method allows you to preview the contents of many files, but probably not in such a structure as a program dedicated to support them.

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