The MS Office suite has matured over the years in terms of its features and functionality. However, what is always concerned with successive upgrades is the compatibility of the new versions with the older versions.
Now, if you’re using different versions of MS Office or collaborating with people using different versions of Office than yours, you’re dealing with this problem on a daily basis. However, you’ll be happy to know that you can reduce your chances of experiencing anxiety just by remembering and practicing a few things.
Let us see what they are.
See also: Learn and understand the difference between MS Office 2013 and Office 365 right here.
1. Know the file format
Office 2007-2013 uses different file extensions when compared to Office 97-2003. They have an extra ‘x’ at the end, which is indicative of Extensible Markup Language (XML) usage.
| MS Office Tools | 97-2003 | 2007-2013 |
| MS Word | document | docx |
| MS Excel | xls | xlsx |
| MS PowerPoint | ppt | pptx |
2. Working in Compatibility Mode
When you open a 97-2003 file in a 2007-2013 product, the file opens in compatibility mode. You can continue to work in that mode to not introduce unsupported things/features.
Note: In compatibility mode, you will not be able to use 2007-2013 features even if you are using the software version.
Ideally, if you plan to share your document with someone using 97-2003, you should continue to work in compatibility mode.
3. Toggle for new features
If you are not sharing a lower version of the file, and if you are using a higher version of the software, you should convert the file. That way you will be able to take advantage of the new features.
To convert your documents, go to File -> Info -> Convert as shown in the diagram below. That way the original file will be converted and replaced.
4. Check for problems
Let’s say you’re working in 2007-2013, and at the end of your job, you realize you need to share a document with someone with the year 97-2003. While working, you may have used features not supported by lower versions.
In such cases, before sharing, you should check for problems. That way, you minimize the potential risk of data loss and formatting when sharing. Click File -> Info -> Check for Issues and then fix the things that the software prompts.
5. Save as 97-2003
If you choose to save the document as a 97-2003 document even though you are working on a higher version, the software will automatically check for compatibility. If it finds any, it prompts the user.
Then sharing will never be a concern.
Cool Tip: Are you someone who doesn’t have MS Office at all? Have you ever needed to open such a file? Don’t worry, you can open them without installing MS Office.
Conclusion
These are the only basic things that you need to keep in mind if your work requires collaborating with people working on different versions of MS Office. Just a few extra steps and you can really avoid a lot of confusion that can arise due to compatibility issues.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
