Overview

View, print and copy Word documents, even if you don't have Word installed. This download is a replacement for Word Viewer 2003 and all previous Word Viewer versions.

The Word Viewer, together with the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats, allows you open Word documents saved in the following formats:

• Word Document (.docx)
• Word Macro-Enabled Document (.docm)
• Rich Text Format (.rtf)
• Text (.txt)
• Web Page formats (.htm, .html, .mht, .mhtml)
• WordPerfect 5.x (.wpd)
• WordPerfect 6.x (.doc, .wpd)
• Works 6.0 (.wps)
• Works 7.0 (.wps)
• XML (.xml)

With Word Viewer and the Compatibility Pack, you can view, print, and copy document contents to another program. However, you cannot edit an open document, save a document, or create a new document. This download is a replacement for Word Viewer 2003 and all previous Word Viewer versions.

NOTE: If you comply with the other license terms for the Word Viewer, you may distribute this viewer without a document created in Microsoft Office.

If the document you want to view is stored on Windows Live SkyDrive, you don’t need to download a viewer. SkyDrive includes Word Web App, which enables you to open the document in your web browser. If you have permission, you can even edit the document in your browser. For more information about Word Web App, see Introduction to Word Web App.

Compatibility Pack for the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats

To reduce file size, improve reliability, and enhance integration with external sources, Microsoft has added new file formats to Microsoft Office 2007 and later versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. To help ensure that you can open files in these new formats, Microsoft has developed a Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats. By installing the Compatibility Pack after you install the Word Viewer, you can view documents that are saved in the following new document formats:

• Word Document (.docx)
• Word Macro-Enabled Document (.docm)

Note: When you use the Word Viewer to view files that are saved in these formats, you will see a Word version of the file. The following Word 2007 and Word 2010 items will be affected:

• Features that do not exist in Word 2003
• Layout that uses properties that do not exist in Word 2003

For more information on specific changes, see the following:

• Open a Word 2007 document in an earlier version of Word.
• Open a Word 2010 document in an earlier version of Word.

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System requirements

Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, Windows Vista, Windows XP Service Pack 2

Windows 7

This download applies to the following Microsoft Office programs:

• Microsoft Word 2010
• Microsoft Office Word 2007
• Microsoft Office Word 2003
• Microsoft Word 2002
• Microsoft Word 2000

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Instructions

To install this download:

1. Download the file by clicking the Download button (above) and saving the file to your hard disk.
2. Double-click the wdviewer.exe program file on your hard disk to start the Setup program.
3. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation.
4. Install the Compatibility Pack.

Instructions for use:

After you install this download, open a file in Word Viewer:

1. On the File menu, click Open.
2. In the Look in list, click the drive, folder, or Internet location that contains the file you want to open.
3. In the folder list, locate the file, or locate and open the folder that contains the file.
4. Click the file, and then click Open.
   
   Note: To preview the contents of the file before you click Open, on the Views menu click Preview.

To remove this download:

To remove the download file, delete the file wdviewer.exe.

1. On the Start menu, point to Settings and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
3. In the list of currently installed programs, select Microsoft Office Word Viewer and then click Remove or Add/Remove. If a dialog box appears, follow the instructions to remove the program.
4. Click Yes or OK to confirm that you want to remove the program.

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