Using LibreOffice Writer 6.3.
Documents saved as either “ODF Text Document (.odt)", "Word 2007-365 (.docx)”, or "Office Open XML Text (*.docx) will open in MS Word in MS Word 365 automatically and will appear blank.
I have emailed and shared documents via memory drives saved in the above mentioned formats and recipients have complained that the documents open into MS Word 365 when opened and appear blank.
Job Search.docx (17.3 KB)
Do you have a sample with non-personal data? Edit your question (pencil icon) and upload (upward pointing arrow icon) a sample. Cheers, Al
Thank you for your response. I have attached an example document that had come up as blank as mentioned in the question.
It could be a compatibility problem between ODT and DOCX.
Basically:
Recommendation for clean working with LibreOffice when different Office programs are used.
Always create and save your files in LibreOffice and save them in ODF format (ODT, ODS, etc.).
Always keep these files as their source.
If you need other formats for distribution to partners, you can open an ODF file and save and distribute another format with ″ Save as… ″.
This way, you always have working files available in your system environment.
See:
Edit different file formats in LibreOffice
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Please report the behavior as a bug in Bugzilla .
See also:
How to Report Bugs in LibreOffice Please announce the link from the bug here.
To do this, edit your initial question. Thank you.
Your attached file is not a .docx file, but it is actually an .odt file. If you change the file name extension back to .odt, then a modern Word 365 can open it without problems.
If you really want to create docx files, this is not done by changing the file name extension, but you have to select the according export filter in the ‘Save a copy as’ (menu File) dialog. For docx it is the item “Word 2007-365 (.docx)” in field “Save as type”.
I can confirm Regina’s findings.
However, the opening post indicates that the “save as” entries were in fact used. They are listed as the selections for saving. If you, ChristopherMR, really made those selections, there is something wrong in your setup, making the file filters mistrack somehow. It may be a good idea to uninstall LibreOffice entirely and install an upgraded version.
If you merely typed the extension, just reading it from those entries (thereby overriding the automatic extension) instead of actually selecting them, Regina did most likely identify correctly the reason for your problem.
Your docx file I saved as .doc and also as .odt, here are the results:
MS Office 2010
.docx - a dialog comes * up saying it is corrupt and can’t be opened, it then offers to repair it which will destroy the file.
.odt - as above
.doc - opens correctly and completely
MS Office 2019
docx - does come up blank but no offer to repair
.odt - opens normally
.doc - opens normally
If you don’t know what version the recipient has, send .doc, if you know the recipient has 2019 (and maybe 365) then send .odt.
I would say that .odt is the best to send because it is the only ISO standard file of the three, the other two are proprietary.
If you are required to send .docx then you really have no choice but to purchase MS Office and try to put up with its quirks.
As an addendum, I do save some .odt documents as .docx, a proportion open correctly. More complex ones might be less likely to open.
Thank you for your diagnosis. Do you know if you and/or others have this same issue with LibreOffice 6.3 Writer, or is it just me?
Maybe it is Microsoft word that has the issue. Older versions of Microsoft office are often used by companies because of the cost, those versions are never going to be patched.
LibreOffice is being constantly updated, you might have a touch more success with using a newer version such as 7.1.5.2 but don’t expect miracles.