This article will introduce some of the formats for files that are in use by Microsoft Word, describe them, and outline some of the differences between them.
When working with Microsoft Word, it is important to consider the several file types that the program works with as they differ in their properties. For example you can design a document to have macros enabled inside of them, to "attach" that document as a macro enabled template to other document files.
Microsoft Word uses several file extensions to format documents based on the version of Word that they were created in. Because Microsoft Word has gone through several iterations since its release in 1983, each iteration of it has had features either removed or added or otherwise modified.
NOTE: Some of the file formats/extensions you can come across in Microsoft Word are .doc , .docx , .dot ,and .dotm. Each one serves its own purpose, so let's look at some of them in the table below.
| File Extension | What is it? | What is its purpose? |
| .doc | Legacy file format for Word 97 -Word 2003 | A proprietary file extension to be used by Microsoft Word. Mostly compatible with versions of Word going from 1997 to 2003. |
| .docx | File format for Word 2007 - To current version. | Current format that expands on the limitations of the .doc format. Improves upon several features such as document/file integrity, compression etc. |
| .dotm | Macro-Enabled Template for Microsoft Word. | This file type is a template that is designed to be applied to documents to enable use of Macros in the end document. |
| .docm | Macro-Enabled Document for Microsoft Word. | This file type already contains macros that are ready for use. This file type can also be later saved as a Macro template. |