Digital documents, i.e. those created with the computer, differ from each other based on the file format and the program used to write them. When saving a new text document with a program such as Microsoft Word, you can choose from several file formats.
The choice is important because if this document will then be sent to another person, be sure that he or she can open it with his or her writing program, which can be Microsoft Word or another.
Below, we see the most common formats used by digital documents, i.e. the types of files that can be generated and created by a word processor such as Word, LibreOffice Writer, Google Docs or others.
The same type of distinction also applies to spreadsheet file formats such as those created with Excel and presentations such as those created with Powerpoint .
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1) .DOCX .XLSX .PPTX
At present, the .docx is the default file format of Microsoft Word, introduced starting with the Office 2007 version.
At the time of its release it created many problems for those who used Office 2003 or previous versions of Word that could not open the docx files without installing an additional plugin.
I remember in fact that in 2008, the guide on how to open Docx files with Office 2003 had become the most searched article on this blog.
The Docx format is very different from the .doc format, because it is a compressed archive file based on XML (Extensible Markup Language) and zip compression technologies.
In fact, you can try to open a Cox file with programs like 7Zip or Winzip to see how the content made of many xml files can be extracted in a folder.
Docx files, being compressed, are much smaller than doc files.
Furthermore, since it is a set of xml files, in case the docx file gets damaged, it is still possible to recover part of its contents.
The same goes for files created with Excel, .XLSX and with Powerpoint, .PPTX.
2) .DOC .XLS .PPT
The .Doc is the predecessor of the .docx format, which is still widely used today although it should no longer be the default standard for saving programs such as Word.
The latest versions of Office and other programs such as LibreOffice allow you to save files in this format which therefore remains popular and which protects you from any incompatibilities.
Let's say that if you want to be sure that whoever receives a document can read it without problems, then it is better to send it in .DOC format and not .DOCX.
3) .DOCM .XLSM .PPTM
The DOCM file is described as a "macro-enabled Word document".
The formats with the M were born with Office 2007 and are inclusive of Macros or automatisms.
If you want the macro inside the document or spreadsheet or presentation to work, then you need to save that file as DOCM, XLSM or PPTM.
If you receive such a file via email, never open it before having checked it with an antivirus because macros can contain very powerful viruses.
4) .DOTX .XLTX .POTX
The "x" format of Word, Powerpoint and Excel documents is a newer file format that serves as a template for maintaining a consistent appearance between different documents.
Basically, if you are creating a document and you plan to have others like it, you can also save it in DOTX format so that you can then start from this and write another one with the same model.
5) .DOT .XLT .POT
The predecessor of formats like dotx is a model for other documents written with Office 2003.
6) .DOTM .XLTM .POTM
Like X (dotx) formats, this format appeared with the release of Office 2007.
The "m" at the end indicates that the model supports macro activation.
This type of file is used only in business contexts.
7) .ODT .ODS .ODP
ODT stands for OpenDocument Text and is the standard open source format for text documents.
This means that most, if not all, of the writing programs (including Microsoft Word) should be able to open them.
A document saved in this format with Office must appear identical in OpenOffice, in LibreOffice and in any other program.
Like the latest generation of Office file formats, it is based on XML.
ODS ODS (OpenDocument Spreadsheet) is the equivalent of an Excel file while ODP (OpenDocument Presentation) of a Powerpoint file.
8) .ABW
ABW is the format of a file created with the AbiWord program and cannot be opened with Word.
9) .WPS
the WPS format is that of the files created with the old Microsoft Works program which up to a few years ago was pre-installed for free on Windows PCs.
WPS files can be opened with Word or LibreOffice without problems.
10) .RTF (Rich Text Format)
RTF is the universal format of digital documents, the one that can be opened with any program.
An RTF file can even be opened with the Wordpad program included in Windows and free, even if part of the formatting can be lost.
The RTF format also cannot contain MACRO (and is therefore also a safe and always virus-free file).
11) XLSB (Binary File Format Excel)
This is an Excel format that allows you to compress files up to 75%
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