Can Libre Office save an odt file to a docx file?
If not can you suggest a workaround?
Thanks for your help
Writer does convert to DOCX but be aware conversion is only approximative because format specifications are not identical. Features existing in one but not the others are reduced to what can be understood by the others. Almost all advanced features fall in this category.
The most critical loss in formatting occurs with the advanced styles in Writer. Writer has paragraph, character, page, frame and list styles while DOCX only knows of paragraph styles. This results in all others being transcribed as direct formatting. And, as a consequence, a round trip does not return the same document as the initial one.
There are other more subtle differences. The one I think of spontaneously is the definition of the usable area in a page. In Word, margins creates the area when the main discourse will be laid out. Header and footer will go inside margins. In Writer, margins are no-print zones. Header, footer and text go in the remaining space of the page. Therefore, margin size must be adjusted so that the same quantity of text stays in a converted page.
Workarounds can be suggested but we need to know why you want to create a DOCX with Writer. If this is to send to a printshop, prefer PDF which will be an exact image of your document. If the reason is your recipients only have Word, send them .odt as Word claims to be able to read such format but the conversion will be on their side with all the limitations mentioned above. At least, you’ll have your own copy with its intended unaltered formatting.
Yes, you can. It’s hiding in File - Save as..., in the list box File type. Take care. The general rule for saving files made with any word processor is to save them in its native format. So, if you use MS Office, save as docx. If you work with LibreOffice, save as odt. The reason is simple: every time you open the file, the word processor will convert it into its native format anyway, and after doing that a few times file corruption can set in. Besides, loading and saving files takes more time if you save in an external format. When you have to send your file to somebody who requires docx, send them a copy saved in that format, but continue working with the version saved as odt and you will be perfectly fine. If you have to edit a file together with people using MS Word, get a copy of MS Word and use that. That will save you from some major headaches.