How do I open a .docx file?

Opening .docx files

Microsoft introduced the .docx file format in Office 2007 to replace the commonly used .doc format. It is among the most popular script formats in use on the site.

For PC Users

If you have an older version of MS Office you will need to install the free Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack. By using the Compatibility Pack for the 2007 Office system, you can open, edit, and save Office Word 2007 documents in previous versions of Word.

To convert .docx documents to .doc format, all you need to do is download the free Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=941B3470-3AE9-4AEE-8F43-C6BB74CD1466&displaylang=en

For MAC Users

Mac users can open these files with Pages, the Apple word processing software included in iWork. There is no need to download the Microsoft conversion app, and no need to own Microsoft Word. Simply download the file from Voices. It will look like code and will be unreadable. Do not be alarmed. Save it. Note the file name and the location. Open the save file with Pages. It will appear perfectly intact, formatted etc.

If you are on MAC, you can get the Microsoft Office Open XML File Format Converter for Mac here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/results.aspx?pocId=5&freetext=docx&DisplayLang=en

This converts .docx to .rtf (rich text format) files which can be viewed in Office for Mac and other Mac word processors.

Other Solutions

If you do not have an MS Office product installed on your computer there are number of free products that can open MS Office formats.
Most popular among them are LibreOffice (http://www.libreoffice.org/) and OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/). Both are free to download.

Troubleshooting

If none of these options work for you please contact your computer manufacturer to be provided with step-by-step instructions on opening these file types. 

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