DOC files are easy to share and print, and can be opened by most word processing programs, including LibreOffice, Apple Pages, and Google Docs, as well as by Microsoft Word. A basic free ‘Word for the web’ program is also available online for Microsoft account holders. Microsoft Office was designed for the Windows operating system, but you can also install Office apps on other operating systems like Apple’s macOS and Google’s ChromeOS.
Word is part of Microsoft Office, which is available as a paid software application or accessed online with a Microsoft 365 subscription. They can include pictures, charts, and graphs, as well as plain or formatted text, and can also contain an editable template. DOC and DOCX are used for formatted text documents like reports, letters or resumes. Since 2007, Word has used DOCX as standard, although you can still open DOC files and can still save to the older format. DOC was primarily used by Microsoft for its Word program until 2003.
DOC and DOCX are the most common word processing file formats.
