ARCHIVED: In Microsoft Word, how can I change the default save format to work with documents created in earlier versions?

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Word 2007 and newer use a different file format than previous versions. Current versions of Word can read the older formats, but the reverse is generally not true. Thus, if you ever need to use an older version of Word to read a document created in a newer version (e.g., Word 2003 to read a Word 2007 document), you must first save the document in an older file format of Word; you can use Word's export filters (through the Save as... option) to do this.

However, if you need to save many files in an older format, it's useful to change the default save format in Word. To do so:

To change the default format in Word for Windows:

In Word 2010, from the File menu, select Options.
In Word 2007, from the Office Button menu, select Word Options.
From the menu on the left, select Save.
From the "Save files in this format:" field, select the format you want as the default.

To change the default format in Word for Mac:

From the Word menu, select Preferences....
In the Preferences window, click Save. From the menu next to "Save Word files as:", select the format you want as the default.