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Unable to open Word documents created on a Mac

I am unable to open Word documents sent by a college.  When I attempt to open them I get an error message that states "Word experienced an error trying to open the file.  Try these suggestions. *Check the file permissions for the document or drive. *Make sure there is sufficient free memory and disk space. * Open the file with the Text Recovery converter."

I have cleaned out my temp folders and have plenty of free space and memory.  If I open this file on another computer running Office 2013 and re-save it Word tells me that it will update to the latest format.  After this happens I can open it on my PC fine.

The original file says it was saved using Word 2008 for Mac.  My computer is running Office 2010 on Windows 7.

Any help would be appreciated.  Thank you.

Hi Zed,

Thank you for choosing Microsoft Community.

 

I need more details to assist you with the issue:

Is the issue specific to a document or is it the same with all the documents?

 

Create a new document in the Mac pc and then move it to the Windows 7 computer.

Once the document is created, paste it to the desktop and then try to open it.

 

You may also check if the document is blocked.

  • Right click on the document and click properties, then click the unblock tab to unblock the document if it is blocked.

 

Let us know if you need further assistance.

Thank you.

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These documents come in from job applicants, so it is difficult to get multiple copies from the same person to test with.  

I was sent another Word document that is having the same problem, but this one doesn't say it is from a Mac.

The issue is the same, if she opens it it won't work, but if I open it and save it then she can open it fine.

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Update:

I have recently found that the root cause is that the files are blocked.

If I save the file from Outlook, right click on it and click "Unblock", then the file will work normally.  Is there a way to fix this so that she won't have to save every Word file she receives in Outlook and Unblock it?

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Last updated April 26, 2024 Views 1,837 Applies to: