This article explains what a DOC file is, how to open a DOC file with and without MS Word, and how to convert the file to another file format, such as DOCX or PDF.

A file with the DOC file extension is a Microsoft Word Document file. It is the default file format used in Microsoft Word 97-2003, while newer versions of MS Word (2007+) use the DOCX file extension by default.

In this format you can save images, formatted text, tables, graphs and other files common in word processors.

This older DOC format differs from DOCX mainly in that DOCX uses ZIP and XML to compress and store its content, while DOC does not.