Information Services Team Blog

Information staff may encounter customers who need a Word 2003 compatible document.  Commonly, the issue is that a customer has saved a document using in .docx (Word 2007) format and cannot open the document using a personal computer that is still operating on Word 2003 software. To assist these customers in opening their documents, staff can refer them to an online file conversion website.  There are numerous different websites that offer this function. These are some examples:

Docx-converter.com will convert a .docx file to a simple html format for free. Some of the content may be stripped out during the conversion process, but the website does support bold, italic, and underlined text.  Users do not need to register with the website, but require an email address to use the service.  Once the document has been converted it will be emailed to them.  

convert-doc.com is a free online file converter with added security features.  The site offers encryption with SSL to deliver secure file transfers.  Users are not required to download any software or register with the website.  Results are immediate, and the website does not store, retain, or backup any documents.

youconvertit.com offers free conversions for a broader range of formats.  Users can convert audio, archive, document, image and video files.  An email address is required to receive the converted files, and users have the option of registering with the website.  Registration extends the time that the link to the converted file will remain active from 3 days for unregistered users to 10 days, and increases the size limit of the file from 120 MB to 300 MB.