Editing Microsoft Word (section)

===Filename extensions===
Microsoft Word's native file formats are denoted either by a <code>.doc</code> or <code>.docx</code> [[filename extension]].

Although the [[Doc (computing)|<code>.{{color|blue|doc}}</code>]] extension has been used in many different versions of Word, it actually encompasses four distinct file formats:
# Word for DOS
# Word for Windows 1 and 2; Word 3 and 4 for Mac OS
# Word 6 and Word 95 for Windows; Word 6 for Mac OS
# Word 97 and later for Windows; Word 98 and later for Mac OS

(The [[classic Mac OS]] of the era did not use filename extensions.)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://eclecticlight.co/2015/05/02/why-the-extensions-quirks-in-the-naming-of-files-and-folders/|title=.why .the .extensions? Quirks in the naming of files and folders|last=Oakley|first=Howard|date=May 2, 2015|website=The Eclectic Light Company|language=en|url-status=dead|access-date=February 26, 2020|quote=Macs used to be the only computers that did not need filename extensions...on classic Mac systems, you can name applications, documents, and most other files almost anything that you like, as the name is not linked in any way to the type of thing that file is.|archive-date=February 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226054403/https://eclecticlight.co/2015/05/02/why-the-extensions-quirks-in-the-naming-of-files-and-folders/}}</ref>

The newer <code>.docx</code> extension signifies the [[Standardization of Office Open XML|Office Open XML international standard]] for Office documents and is used by default by Word 2007 and later for Windows as well as Word 2008 and later for macOS.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000397.shtml|title=DOCX Transitional (Office Open XML), ISO 29500:2008-2016, ECMA-376, Editions 1-5|date=January 20, 2017|website=loc.gov|access-date=July 9, 2019|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112020030/https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000397.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>