File extension WPS
| File type | Microsoft Works Document Format |
| Developer | Microsoft |
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What is a WPS file?
File with a .WPS extension contains a text document with no advanced formatting, created in the Microsoft Works software. This format is no longer developed since the year 2006 – it has been substituted with the DOC standard, and MS Works is no longer distributed since the year 2010. The universal, multi-platform, free office software – LibreOffice, is comprised of the Writer program which supports the WPS files.
WPS files can be also opened in a variety of programs, depending on system. For MS Windows it may be MS Word or Publisher, or a program which will convert it into another format, such as Microsoft Works 6-9 File Converter. In Mac OS – the NeoOffice since the 2.2 version with the libwps libraries, and in the Unix type systems also different types of office package programs, provided they have the libwps library installed. File can be also converted into ODT format using wps2odt.
Program(s) that can open the .WPS file
Windows
Mac OS
More information about WPS file
WPS file is a text document file generated by Microsoft Works word processor. WPS files are designed to store formatted text, but images, cliparts or tables can also be stored in WPS files.
Simple text documents
WPS format doesn’t support more advanced formatting options or macros. Therefore, WPS files can be used only for creating basic text documents, for example, notes, sreadsheets, data from databases, or documents that don’t need more complicated formatting and effects.
DOC as the successor to WPS
Microsoft no longer develops WPS format since 2006, when they introduced more versatile and modern format, DOC, which became Microsoft Word’s standard document format. Both formats are quite similar to each other, but DOC allows for creating more advanced text documents and offers many more features than its predecessor.
Dedicated library
A dedicated C++ library for WPS files, libwps, allows editing and saving WPS documents using programs such as OxygenOffice or NeoOffice.
How to open WPS files
If you cannot open the WPS 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 WPS 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 WPS file can be found in the table. Now just download and install the appropriate application.
Possible problems with the WPS format files
The inability to open and operate the WPS 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 Works Document Format file. Below is a list of possible problems.
- Corruption of a WPS file which is being opened
- Incorrect links to the WPS file in registry entries.
- Accidental deletion of the description of the WPS from the Windows registry
- Incomplete installation of an application that supports the WPS format
- The WPS 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 WPS file.
- Drivers of equipment used by the computer to open a WPS 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 WPS file should operate with your programs without any problem. If the problem with the WPS file has not been solved, it may be due to the fact that in this case there is also another rare problem with the WPS file. In this case, the only you can do is to ask for assistance of a professional staff.
This extension
can be converted to:
How to associate the file with an installed software?
If you want to associate a file with a new program (e.g. my-file.WPS) you have two ways to do it. The first and the easiest one is to right-click on the selected WPS 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 WPS 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. WPS) 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.