How to save file so it's compatible on Mac, Linux and Windows?

I plan to cut/paste the contents of the Notes on my Mac into LibreOffice documents instead. Then store them on an external drive. Will I only be able to read those files on another Mac, or is there a way I can save the files so they can also be read and edited if I plug the drive into a Linux or Windows machine?

As long as the file system of the external drive is recognized by the OS, you can access the files. Linux should recognize anything you throw at it. Windows does not recognize a Linux FS; I’m not sure if that has changed with Win10. I’m also not sure what Mac will read.

Thanks, that’s helpful. Should I save the documents as ODF text documents, or one of the other options, or does it not matter?

You’re best off with .odf if the other machines can read it. LO does not have complete support for .doc / .docx, so you will lose backgrounds and other things. odf is an excellent format, IME, and MS supports it from Office 2007(with add-on)-on, though I don’t know how perfectly.

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Save in the ODF format and your files should be recognizable for LibreOffice or OpenOffice on any platform. Don’t save in the latest MS Office formats - they’re not fully compatible with ODF so you may lose information.

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