How to open an open office in Word. Free office for Windows OpenOffice. File Operations

OpenOffice is a free application for Windows with which you can create, edit, and save documents in the open ODF format. In addition, you can work with presentations, spreadsheets, images, databases, formulas using other programs included in the OpenOffice.org package.

You can download the OpenOffice.org software package from the official website by clicking on the link below.

In the screenshot shown below, you need to select the operating system installed on your computer, the language and version of the program to download. Then click on the button "Download full installation".

After the installation file is downloaded to your computer, run it. Now the necessary files will begin copying to your computer’s hard drive. Here click "Next".

The next thing to do is select the folder on your computer where they will be saved. By default the program offers "Destination directory", if it does not suit you, click “Browse” and select the desired folder. Then click "Unpack".

Immediately after unpacking, the OpenOffice installation wizard will appear. In the next window, simply click Next.

If you have created several accounts on your computer, you can check the box "for all computer users". If you plan to use the program only you, check "only for me", while users logged into the operating system under a different account will not be able to use it. Click Next.

Here you can select which modules for OpenOffice you want to install. By selecting each one individually with the mouse, read the description of the component on the right and how much disk space it will take up. If some component is not useful to you, right-click on it and from the menu select something like disable or remove component (I don’t remember exactly). At the same time, a cross should appear next to it on the icon. Then click Next.

In the next step, the installation wizard will offer to use OpenOffice by default to open the following documents: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint. If you need it, check all the boxes; if not, click “Next”.

Now mark "Create a shortcut on the desktop" and click "Install".

When the program is completely installed, the following window will appear, in it click “Finish”.

Launch OpenOffice by clicking on the shortcut on your desktop. To launch other applications installed from the package, go to Start, expand OpenOffice and select the one you need.

A wizard window will open, in which click “Next”.

In the next window, fill in the proposed fields, not necessarily all, and click “Finish”.

The main program window looks like this. In it, select what exactly you want to start working with: a text editor, table editor, database editor, image editor, etc. As an example, let's create a text document.

In appearance, OpenOffice is very similar to Microsoft Word 2003, so if you have used it before, then there should be no difficulties now.

On the right side there are four side panels: “Properties”, “Styles”, “Gallery”, “Navigator”. Let's open "Properties". Here you can view the properties of the text, paragraph, page by clicking on the plus sign next to the desired item. If you want to configure additional settings for any of the items, click on the icon next to it.

It is also possible to “Hide” and then “Show” the sidebar by clicking on the small button on the side.

On the “View” tab, you can disable the described sidebar by unchecking the corresponding box. Also configured here "Toolbar".

For example, check the box “Table”. A small window will appear for working with the table; you can pin it to the toolbar with the mouse by simply dragging it.

On the “File” tab, you can create a new document, open an existing one, print, save, including as a Word document. You can also send the document by email and export it to PDF format.

The features of OpenOffice Writer don't end there. Give it a whirl and see what else he can do.

Other applications in the OpenOffice suite do the following:

OpenOffice Calc or Spreadsheet– will allow you to obtain values ​​calculated using complex, and not so complex, formulas. You can also create tables and build diagrams based on them. Very similar to Microsoft Excel.

OpenOffice Impress or Presentation - will allow you to create a beautiful presentation, with various transitions and effects. Reminds me of Microsoft PowerPoint.

OpenOffice Draw or Drawing is a vector editor that allows you to create various drawings.

OpenOffice Base or Database - allows you to create, open, edit a database. Works with MS Access, DBF, spreadsheets created in OpenOffice Calc and MS Excel, text files. Similar to MS Access.

OpenOffice Math or Formula - will help you create or edit a formula. This is a very convenient tool when writing scientific articles, dissertations or term papers. Often used in conjunction with OpenOffice Writer.

Open and closed file formats

As you know, documents can be in different formats, but which of them are open and which are closed, and what does this mean? For example, one of the existing plain text formats can be deciphered on every computer, without the need to use any special data about the internal structure of the document. All that is required is a coding table. This situation classifies the plain text format with a well-known encryption table as an open format.

As for closed-type files, an example would be files created in applications of the Microsoft Office software package. The format of such documents is the property of Microsoft Corporation, which means that information about the internal structure of the documents is not shared. Some information, of course, can be purchased for some money, which, however, does not prevent it from being incomplete, since the format is subject to changes with each new version of the software package. This format of documents is classified as closed.

Most users understand that the most effective, and perhaps the only way to organize a free exchange of information, without any document compatibility problems, is to use open format documents. Such documents could be distributed over the Internet around the world without fear that other programs that someone uses will not be able to read the file. However, the situation today is by no means ideal. Many users of various software packages still use and send documents in closed formats via the Internet, for example, MS Office files. In the case where there is no firm certainty that such a package with the necessary editors is available on your opponent’s computer, you should not do this. The belief that Microsoft Office is installed by “most” of users, and sent documents “will be open to everyone” is wrong.

As for the free office analogue OpenOffice.org, its documents refer to open format files, which are officially characterized and enshrined in the standard. Such formats are workable when used by most programs. Such compatibility of programs and formats is determined at a very high level - states, together with corporations competent in this field with high authority, create and approve standards.

An excellent example of standardized formats are the www formats, which are selected by the World Wide Web Consortium, otherwise known as W3C. This format does not have official authority approved by any state, but thanks to this standard it is possible to create Internet pages that can be viewed from anywhere in the world. It was the W3C corporation that created the HTML Internet page format standard. There are several versions of this standard, both HTML and XHTML, which is based on XML.

Open Office and Microsoft Office

First of all, it is worth saying that the Microdoft Office software package does not have the conversion capability that allows you to work with Open Office documents. This behavior does not entirely correspond to the global policy of establishing equal competition, in addition, when studying the MDSN Library, one can notice the fact that the team of Microsoft creators is not at all aware of the existence of Open Office, which, of course, forces us to draw certain conclusions.

In order to work in Microsoft Office with documents from Open Office, there is no simpler way than saving documents in the MSO format natively in OOo. This function can be made automatic using the commands "Tools" - "Options" - "Load/Save" - ​​"General" - "Default file format" Another way to work with Open Office files is to use additional converters. One of the existing such plugins is the "Sun ODF Plugin for MSO", which allows users of the text editor, spreadsheet processor and presentation wizard from Microsoft to open and edit documents with the ISO approved ODF extension. This plugin works for opening Open Document Format files in versions of MS Office 2007, 2003, XP, and 2000. The operating principle of the Sun plugin is based on technology integrated into StarOffice.

The initial versions of the OpenOffice.org software package required special converters in order to fully interact with versions of Microsoft Office since 2007. An example of such converters is Novell, which allows you to work with files with the docx and xlsx extension. In addition, there is a converter directly from Microsoft, which makes it possible to convert XML documents into documents of earlier versions of Microsoft Office, and it is not at all necessary to have this office on your computer. As of version 3.0 of the Open Office software package, no additional converters are required.

As for opening Microsoft software package files in Open Office, this option exists without any special add-ons. However, some difficulties still exist; for example, documents containing macros in VBA are not supported. Also limited is the reading of documents that contain links in their structure to other files, such as drawings, etc., the use of which is arranged differently in Open Office. Such documents are not transferred from the MS Office application format to the OO format. However, most standard documents developed in MS Office are imported without problems.

In addition, when working in Open Office, you can use the converter function, which allows you to convert doc, xls, and ppt documents into the format of the Open Office package application programs.

Differences in format

The file formats of the latest versions of office suites also have their own nuances. A saved document from one of the application programs included in Microsoft Office 2010, for example, Word with the Open Document Text file format, is subject to formatting correction when opened through an Open Office text editor. Likewise, by opening an ODT file, the same changes will occur in Word 2010. This change is associated with a different structure of functions that are responsible for interacting with these formats. The differences between the two formats mainly involve changes in the formatting of information, as well as the ability to use some functions. When changing the format of a document, the information it contains is subject to change, but the formatting and process of working with it may be different.

In order for the format of saved documents in MS Word to be selected as one constant, for example, ODF or OpenXML, you can use the following commands: “File” - “Options” - “Saving” - specify in the “Save files in the following format” column the required format of saved documents, which will be installed by default.

When saving a Word 2010 document in the Open Document Text format, changes to the document also occur due to support or lack thereof for the ODT format.

Support functions can be either fully supported or partially supported, not to mention completely unsupported features. It is worth noting that there are quite a large number of functions of the Word 2010 application program that are completely unsupported by the Open Document Text format, along with graphic functions. However, most of the main functions are still imported into this format without changes. If you really need to create ODT files using Microsoft Office, then the support functionality is quite sufficient, but it is better to work with documents of this format in the Open Office software package, which is closer to it.

More about ODF

Open Document Format is an open and free file format for storing and exchanging files. Such files include various types of information, be it text files, spreadsheets, illustrations, slide shows or databases.

This standard was developed by the OASIS association based on the XML format. In 2006, it was adopted at the international level - ISO/IEC 26300. The development of this format was carried out by many corporations, which allowed it to be accessible and used absolutely freely. This format was conceived as an analogue to commercial closed formats like doc, xls, ppt, included in Microsoft Office documents, etc.

It is worth noting that it is recommended to review documents again after saving and closing them to ensure the required appearance of the text in ODT format. When a document workflow is performed in multiple editors besides Word, for example using Writer from Open Office or Google Docs, filling the document with text and formatting it will be different functions. The best option would be maximum concentration on the text content. Upon completion of work on the information array, it is worth paying attention to the formatting, since losses in this case will be minimal when switching to other formats, such as Word or ODT.

The positive qualities of the Open Document Text format are: light weight of documents compared to similar ones in Doc format, independence from commercial corporations due to the openness of the format, which also allows you to be free in choosing the software used. Also, of course, the approval of this format at the international level should be considered an advantage.

The disadvantages of the ODT format include the following characteristics: slide shows created in presentation wizards, for example, Impress from Open Office, do not allow tables in their content. In addition, digital signatures in the Open Document Text format cannot be described, and the format specification does not recognize formulaic language.

Continuing to focus on the free format of text document files, it is worth saying that it is supported by the largest corporations working in the field of software creation. The most famous of them are OpenOffice.org and IBM Lotus Symphony, Star Office and Neo Office, Visio Writer, as well as many others.

To summarize, we can safely say that the future lies with open formats, however, at the moment, in the process of sharing preferences and slow transition to such a format, the choice remains with the user - which document format to work with, and which software to use for this.

How to open an odt file in Word? OpenDocument Text (odt) is a common text data file similar to doc (Word). Created in OpenOffice, or StarOffice. OpenOffice is quite popular among start-up companies - the program is free. But, the majority of users use the editor from Microsoft Office in the software. A reasonable question arises: how to open odt in Word?
There is nothing complicated. Using Word 2007 as an example, we will show you how to work with OpenDocument Text.
Open Microsoft Office.

By clicking on “Office” (top screenshot).


Click “Open”.


At the bottom right, open the file list and find - Text OpenDocument.


Click “Donate 1.odt”, press the button (red arrow on the right) to open it.


The task is completed, Donat 1 is opened as a Word document. To open an odt file in MS Office 2007 in this way, you must first install SP2.
For Word 2010. By clicking on “File”, click on the “Open” that appears. When choosing a file type, we stop at the “OpenDocument Text” item. Click on the required file and open it.

Word 2013. Again, the "File" tab. Open it and select the file location.
Then click on the “Browse” button and from the file types next to the file name field, select OpenDocument Text.
Click the required document and click the “Open” button.

Word 2016. “File” – “Open” – “Browse” – file types – Text OpenDocument – ​​file – open.
In later versions of Word, when opening odt, you can double-click it.
An earlier Word is installed - it is possible to convert odt using the Sun ODF Plugin for Microsoft Office. Easy to find. We ask the corresponding query in Google.


Download, run the file (odp-*.*-bin-windows-en-US.exe), and begin the installation.


By clicking on the installation file, we get the window shown in the figure above. Click “Next”, follow the prompts that appear, and install.
Having finished installing the plugin, open odt in Microsoft Office Word XP/2000/2003 in the same way as we opened it in later versions, through the “Office” button.
You can open odt in Word with any online converter.


Select the required “Donation 1 – copy.odt”, press the conversion button.
Having opened the converted document, we see that everything went well. The picture below shows the open file “Donat 1 – copy” in Word format.


Thus, we are practically convinced that the odt file can be opened in Word in various ways without any problems.

The ODT format stands for Open Document Text and is a standard extension for documents created in OpenOffice. This file can store text, charts, spreadsheets, and other objects. Its main advantage is cross-platform, unlike the well-known .DOC and .DOCX formats, the file can be opened using many applications:

• LibreOffice
• OpenOffice
• StarOffice
• TextMaker Viewer
• online converters Freefileconvert and Appfactory
• Microsoft Word text editor

How to open an ODT file in Word

To open a document using a text editor, you must install a special plugin from the Sun Microsystems website. Before downloading, you will need to go through a simple registration procedure, accept the agreement and click Continue - after which the download window will automatically open.

After installing the add-on, follow these steps:

1. Launch Microsoft Word and go to the File/Open menu.
2. Set the path to the required document and select “ODF Text Document” from the drop-down list.
3. Click on the required file and click “Open”.
4. To convert ODT to a more familiar format, click on “Save As” and find “Word Document”.

Please note that Word 2003 and earlier versions do not support full editing of ODT files, so owners of these editions of the word processor will need to install the OpenOffice package.

How to open an ODT file in OpenOffice

You need to download the OpenOffice Writer component separately or download the entire application package. The software is a good alternative to Microsoft Office and is also distributed free of charge. After installing the program, you will not have problems reading documents in the ODT format, since “by default” files are created with this extension.

As a rule, any self-respecting office software package has its own file formats for all its components and offers the user to work with them. However, Microsoft Office document file formats have long become de facto world standards in document management. No one can ignore this, and I have yet to come across an office suite that doesn't allow you to save work in MS Office formats or won't open them. This fully applies to OOo 2.0. In addition, there are a lot of other document formats that are also customary to be supported - so to speak, “out of politeness”. OpenOffice.org in this regard will give odds to, perhaps, any office package.

File formats

OOo 2.0 uses the international standard OpenDocument XML file format as the default file format. OpenDocument assumes that a document created in one program can be read in another without conversion - just as it was. This file format is also used by StarOffice, IBM Workspace and KOffice and should be used by other programs. OOo 2.0 can also read and save files in formats previously supported by OOo 1.x including Microsoft Office formats. OpenOffice.org imports Microsoft Office files without any problems. However, Microsoft Office cannot (or rather, does not want to) import OpenDocument format files. It's not surprising that in most cases, even hardcore OpenOffice users save their documents in Microsoft Office format.

Here is a reference table of file formats:

OpenOffice.org, as is customary, saves files in the OpenDocument format by default. If the user wants to always save documents as Microsoft Office files, after installing OOo 2.0, you need to do this: Tools --> Options --> Load/Save --> General. In the "Default File Format" section on this page, you need to select a document type (for example, "Text Document") and a file format from the "Always Save As" list. Then click “OK” to save the changes.

Text files

In addition to OpenDocument formats (.odt, .ott, .oth, and .odm), Writer 2.0 can open the formats used by OpenOffice.org 1.x (.sxw, .stw, and .sxg) and the following text document formats:
- Microsoft Word 6.0/95/97/2000/XP (.doc, .dot);
- Microsoft Word 2003 XML (.xml);
- Microsoft WinWord 5 (.doc);
- StarWriter formats (.sdw, .sgl, and .vor);
- WordPerfect documents (.wpd);
- WPS 2000/Office 1.0 (.wps);
- Ichitaro 8/9/10/11 (.jtd and .jtt);
- DocBook (.xml);
- AportisDoc (Palm) (.pdb);
- Hangul WP 97 (.hwp);
- .rtf, .txt, .csv.

Spreadsheet Files

OpenDocument's own formats are .ods and .ots. In addition to them, Calc 2.0 can work with formats used by OpenOffice 1.x (.sxc, .stc) and third-party spreadsheet formats. Here is their list:
- Microsoft Excel 2003 XML (.xml);
- Microsoft Excel 97/2000/XP (.xls, .xlw, and .xlt);
- Microsoft Excel 4.x–5.0/95 (.xls, .xlw, and .xlt);
- Pocket Excel (pxl);
- dBase (.dbf);
- HTM and HTML files including requests to web pages;
- Rich Text Format (.rtf);
- Quattro Pro 6.0 (.wb2);
- Lotus 1-2-3 (.wk1 and .wk4);
- Text CSV (.csv and .txt);
- StarCalc (.sdc and .vor);
- SYLK (.slk);
- Data Interchange Format (.def).

Presentation files

OpenDocument 2.0 uses the .odp, .odg, and .otp formats, but in addition to these, Impress 2.0 can open formats used by OpenOffice 1.x (.sxi, .sti) and presentation formats made in:
- Microsoft PowerPoint 97/2000/XP (.ppt, .pps, and .pot);
- StarDraw and StarImpress (.sda, .sdd, .sdp and .vor);
- CGM - Computer Graphics Metafile (.cgm).

Graphic files

In addition to native OpenDocument formats (.odg and .otg), Draw 2.0 can open formats used by OpenOffice 1.x (.sxd .std) and the following graphics formats: BMP, JPEG, JPG, PCX, PSD, TIF, TIFF, XPM, RAS, SDD, DXF, WMF, PNG, PGM, SVM, TGA, SGF, GIF, XBM, SGV, VOR, PPM, SDA, MET, PCT, PLT, PCD, PBM, EMF, EPS. As you can see, it is difficult to imagine a situation where a user would be faced with a graphics format that OpenOffice is not capable of working with.

Formula files

OpenDocument Formula prefers to work with its own file format, but can also open formats used by OpenOffice 1.x (.sxm), StarMath 6 (.smf), and MathML files (.mml) without problems. Here, more than anywhere else, preliminary configuration is important: if the appropriate parameter is set in “Tools --> Options --> Load/Save --> Microsoft Office), then when you open a Word document that contains an embedded equation editor object, the object will be automatically converted into an OpenOffice.orgMath.

File Operations

By and large, the basic operations with files - open, save, create - are the same as everywhere else. So I won’t dwell on them in detail. I will consider in detail only operations specific to OpenOffice.org.

Password protection

The entire document can be protected from being viewed without entering a password. To do this, there is an option in the "Save As" dialog to enter a password. However, this option is only available for files saved in the OpenDocument format or the older OpenOffice.org 1.x format.

In the "Save As" dialog, select the "Save with password" checkbox and click "Save". You will receive a save prompt with a password. Just keep in mind that passwords must contain at least five characters. Until five characters are entered, the OK button remains inactive.

Export files

1. Export to XHTML:
The OpenOffice.org package includes the ability to export files to XHTML format. To do this, the user must select "File --> Export". In the "Export" dialog, select XHTML from the "File format" list.

2. Export to PDF:
Everything is more complicated here. Export directly to PDF can be done by any OpenOffice application. The easiest way is to use the button on the toolbar or by selecting "File > Export to PDF". In this case, the user will be asked to enter a name for the PDF file, after which the PDF Options dialog will open. However, in this case, the user will not be able to select the page range, image compression options, or other export options. You can configure all this by separately configuring the “PDF Options”.

The General tab contains the following options:
- "Pages":
"All": Exports the entire document.
"Area": ​​Allows you to export only a certain range of pages. To do this, use the 7-15 format index (meaning pages 7 to 15). To export individual pages, the 11;18;34 format is used (pages 11, 18 and 34).

- "Images":
"Lossless compression": In this case, images are saved without losing quality. However, there is one caveat: when used with photos, it tends to make large files. In short, it is recommended for other types of images.
"JPEG compression": Various degrees of quality are already taken into account here. For example, the 90% setting works well with photos (small file size, unnoticeable loss).

- "Are common":
"Structured PDF": This feature includes special tags in the corresponding PDF tags. In some cases it can significantly increase file sizes. Some exported tags are table of contents, hyperlinks and controls.
Export Comments: Exports comments from Writer and Calc documents as PDF comments.
"Page Transition Effects": This option enables Impress slide transition effects as the corresponding PDF effects.
"Save forms as": Sets the format for transferring forms within the PDF file. There is only one general setting valid for an entire PDF document: PDF (sends the entire document), FDF (sends the contents of controls), HTML, and XML. Most often it is recommended to select the PDF format.

Denis Lavnikevich