How to open DOC files on PC
The solutions for open DOC files on PC there are so many: in some cases, these programs are already installed in the supplied operating system, in others they can be downloaded for free. As for instead Microsoft Word, the program that can natively generate this type of file, it is absolutely essential to subscribe to the Office 365 service or purchase a license of the program to use it: don't worry, I'll explain everything to you in the following sections.
WordPad (Windows)
If you have operating systems available Windows 10 o Windows 8.x, you already have (perhaps without knowing it) an absolutely free program that allows you to read DOC files: it is WordPad. In reality, this program was initially born as a slightly more advanced version of Notepad but, over time, it has acquired several very interesting features, including the ability to manage DOC files.
To use WordPad, first click on the button Home Windows (the icon in the form of pennant located in the lower left corner of the screen), enter the folder Windows Accessories> Accessories and select the program icon located inside it. Alternatively, type the word WordPad in the search field attached to the Start menu or in Cortana's search bar and click on the first result returned.
The WordPad interface is somewhat reminiscent of the old versions of Word, only a little leaner and less feature-rich. Anyway, to open a DOC file with the program, click on the menu Fillet located at the top left, select the item apri from the latter and choose the DOC file of your interest using the File Explorer displayed on the screen.
Alternatively, you can open the document of your interest in a "direct" way, without starting the WordPad program in advance click destroy on it, choosing the item Open with from the context menu and selecting WordPad from the list of proposed programs.
Keep in mind that with WordPad you can edit DOC files by choosing basic formatting, adding images and little else. Also, if the DOC file contains elements that are native to the format (e.g. macros, videos, or other complex elements), WordPad may not display them correctly or at all.
TextEdit (macOS)
Also MacOS has a “standard” pre-installed program capable of managing DOC files: this is TextEdit, the document editor of the Apple operating system, which includes among its functions the ability to view, edit and manage DOC files.
Using TextEdit is very simple: all you have to do is call the program from the folder Applications of Mac, wait a few seconds for the software interface to load completely and finally select the item apri from the menu Fillet located at the top left. At this point, using the Finder screen, select the path where the document to open is kept and perform a Double-click on the file in question.
Exactly as already seen in WordPad, the TextEdit interface is very minimal and allows you to make basic changes to the document in question; similarly, if there are objects that can only be managed by Word or other specific programs (eg embedded macros or videos), they may not be displayed correctly.
If you wish, you can open DOC files with TextEdit even without starting the program directly: identify in Finder the document on which you intend to intervene, do click destroy on its icon, select the item Open with from the contextual menu proposed and choose TextEdit from the list of programs displayed on the screen. Easier than that?
Pages (macOS)
Another free alternative you can take advantage of if you have a Mac is the program Pages: it is a real text editor developed solely for devices with macOS (and iOS) operating system and available, absolutely free, on the Apple store.
So, to get Pages, all you have to do is open theApp Store by clicking on the icon in the shape of A attached to the bar Dock, type the word "pages" in the search bar located at the top right and identify the program icon among the proposed results. At this point, click the button Get placed under the aforementioned icon, enter, if necessary, the credentials of your Apple ID in the proposed window and then press the button Install the app to download Pages on your Mac.
Once the download is complete, call the program from the folder Applications of Mac or searching for its name through the Launchpad, click on the menu Fillet present in the bar at the top left, choose the item apri and, using the Finder panel, select the document you want to modify.
As you can see right away, Pages is a rather complete word processing program, which stands by right as an alternative to Microsoft Word: it has medium-advanced editing features, which allow you to intervene even on elements not supported by TextEdit.
Microsoft Word (Windows / macOS)
As I already mentioned to you at the beginning of this guide, Word is the program that is part of the suite Microsoft Office able to handle files with DOC extension: available for both Windows that for MacOS (as well as for mobile platforms), Microsoft's software guarantees full compatibility with this file format and is certainly the best choice for those who want to fully modify this type of document.
However, the entire suite and all its programs are not distributed for free: to use them, you must have a subscription to the plan Office 365 (with prices starting from 7 € / month) or purchase a license of Office Home & Student 2016 for PC at the price of € 149 one-time fee.
In any case, if you wish, you can get a free trial version of Office 365 Home lasting one month: to do so, connected to this website, click on the button Try free for 1 month, enter your Microsoft account credentials in the next window and then specify a valid payment method (you will not be charged for the first 30 days of using the service). If you don't have a Microsoft account, you can create it for free by following my instructions.
Once registration is complete, follow the instructions shown on the screen to obtain, via email, the link to the Office installation file: once the latter has been downloaded, carefully follow the on-screen instructions to install the program on your PC or Mac .
To cancel the automatic renewal of the subscription, instead connected to this website, enter the credentials of the Microsoft account with which you downloaded Office, click on the item Cancel corresponding to the description of your subscription and follow the instructions shown on the screen to deactivate the renewal. If you need some more information on these steps, I recommend you take a look at my guide on how to download Office.
Either way, once Word is installed on your computer, just do it Double-click on the DOC file to be opened to import it immediately into the program; alternatively, start the program Microsoft Word calling it up from the menu Home di Windows or dalla cartella Applications of Mac, click on the section Fillet placed at the top left, presses the buttons apri e Shop by Department and, using the proposed panel, select the file on which you intend to act.
LibreOffice Writer (Windows / macOS / Linux)
A great alternative to Microsoft Word, free and available for both Windows that for MacOS e Linux, is LibreOffice Writer: in fact, it is a program included in a completely open source office suite, freely downloadable from the Internet, able to manage almost all the documents generated by the Microsoft Office suite, including DOC files.
Getting LibreOffice is very simple: first connect to the program's website, press the button Download the xyz version corresponding to the section LibreOffice Fresh, wait for the file to download (eg. LibreOffice_x.y.z_Win_x64.msi) and install it as usual, following the simple on-screen instructions. If you use a Mac, in addition to LibreOffice you must also download its cittàn language pack (included, instead, "standard" in the Windows version of the software), by clicking on the button Translated user interface.
Once the installation is complete, start LibreOffice calling it from the folder LibreOffice placed in the menu Home di Windows or dalla cartella Applications of Mac, click on the menu Fillet located at the top left, select the item apri and, using the proposed panel, select the DOC file on which you intend to act. As you can see, the interface is very reminiscent of the "old" versions of Word (prior to Word 2013, so to speak).
Exactly as I mentioned at the beginning of this section, Writer is able to handle almost all the components of a Word document, including more complex objects such as macros; the only precaution to take, possibly, concerns the saving of the file: Writer will ask you, in fact, to use the odt for saving the document. If you want to keep the original format, simply click on the appropriate button displayed in the save window.
How to open DOC files on smartphones and tablets
You do not need to open DOC file from your computer but you need to do it through your smartphone or tablet, since you received the precious attachment there? Then this is the section that suits you best: below, I intend to show you how to use the best apps to achieve your goal.
Microsoft Word (Android / iOS)
Microsoft Word mobile is the mobile version of the famous computer program. It is available for free for both Android and iOS, as long as you use a device that is 10.1 ″ or smaller (otherwise it requires an Office 365 subscription).
The app remembers the computer program in all respects and inherits a limited set of features from it: although Word for mobile is perfectly capable of managing documents with varied content (e.g. with images, videos, and so on) , some peculiarities typical of the computer program are missing. Also, to edit a document, you need to log in with a Microsoft account.
In any case, opening a document with Word mobile is extremely simple: once you open the app, all you have to do is click on the icon apri, located at the bottom, and then select the location from which to open the file (eg. OneDrive o This device) and use the next panel to select the document of your interest. Alternatively, you can open the files of your interest by selecting them from an external app (e.g. the File Manager Android), then tapping the button sharing and selecting Microsoft Word among the available choices.
Google Docs (Android / iOS)
Google documents is the solution offered by Big G for managing and viewing documents: it is an app pre-installed on most Android devices, which can still be downloaded independently from the Google Play Store and is also available on the App Store for devices equipped with the operating system iOS (then iPhone e iPad).
Opening DOC files with Google Docs is extremely simple: once you've installed the app from your device's store, start it from drawer Android (i.e. from the area where the installed app icons reside) or from the screen Home on iOS, tap the shaped icon folder located at the top right and choose whether to open the document from Google Drive or from storage space availablee (i.e. from the internal memory of the device or from the microSD, if available). Using the file manager that opens on the screen, different depending on the choice made, navigate to the path where the DOC file of your interest is located and select it with a tap to open it.
Alternatively, once you have installed Google Docs, you can achieve the same result by opening the file directly from its "original path" (eg. From an email attachment or from the Android / iOS file manager): all you have to do, in this case, it is to go to the path where the document of interest is located and select it with a tap. If necessary, to finalize the opening, press the button sharing and select the item Google documents among the available choices.
Pages (iOS)
If you own a iPhone or iPad, you can open the documents of your interest using the "mobile" version of the program Pages, already seen in the previous section dedicated to opening DOC files on macOS. Also in this case, the app is available for free on the App Store (if you are reading my guide from your Apple device, you can open the dedicated page by touching this link).
In any case, to manage DOC files or any other type of document created with Word or other text editors, all you have to do is start the app from the screen Home of your device, tap the button Shop by Department located at the bottom and, using the proposed panel, select the file of your interest from the path in which it is located (eg. your iphone). If you wish, you can open the document "directly" by simply selecting it from the app Fillet iOS (or any other app, eg. Mail).
How to open DOC files online
If you have come this far, it means that you have learned perfectly what the best programs are for open DOC file, however, you are still not satisfied as you would like to access documents of this type without installing anything. Did I guess? Perfect, then this is the most suitable section for you: below I intend to show you two valid tools for managing DOC files, which do not require installation and which are accessible via the browser installed on your computer.
Office Online
Office Online, as the name itself suggests, is nothing more than the Web-based version of the office suite distributed by Microsoft: it contains the application Word Online, a "reduced" version of Word fully functional and accessible absolutely free through the browser. To use it it is absolutely necessary to have a Microsoft account (I showed you in the previous sections how to get one).
That said, it's time to take action: first, connect to the Word Online website and enter your Microsoft account login credentials. Once logged in, you can open documents already on your OneDrive account or Upload a document directly from your computer using the button located at the top right: in this case, the file is automatically copied to OneDrive.
Any changes made to the document are synchronized with its copy on OneDrive: this means that, in the case of an uploaded document, its “original” version on the computer is not updated. When the work is finished, however, you can safely download a copy of the file in question by clicking on the item Fillet located at the top left and then selecting the buttons Save with name e Download a copy from the proposed panel.
Google Drive
If Microsoft Word Online failed to satisfy you, you can give it a try Google Drive: Google's cloud service, in fact, integrates a series of browser-based applications, such Google documents, capable of handling most types of office documents, including DOC files. To use Google Drive it is absolutely necessary that you have a Google account: if you don't have it, you can create it in a few minutes by carefully following my dedicated guide.
That said, it's time to get to work: first, connected to the main page of Google Drive, click on the button Go to Google Docs and enter your account login credentials on the next screen. Once you have reached the next page, you can choose to open a document already saved on Google Drive by simply clicking on it, or upload a document from your computer by first pressing the icon in the shape of folder placed at the top and then selecting the tab Charge from the proposed panel.
If you decide to upload a document, it will be immediately copied to Google Drive and any changes will be synchronized with the cloud copy of the file and not with its "original" version present in the device memory. To overcome this problem, once the work is finished, you can safely save the "updated" copy of the document: to do so, click on the menu Fillet, select the option Download as and choose the format in which to save the updated copy of the document.
How to open DOC file
