WhatFileType

Document file formats

23 formats in this category.

Document formats carry formatted text, tables, images and layout. Some are open and human readable, others are compressed office bundles or fixed-layout files meant to look identical everywhere.

.abwAbiWordAbiWord Document.djvuDjVuDjVu Document.docDOCMicrosoft Word 97-2003 Document.docxDOCXMicrosoft Word Open XML Document.hwpHWPHancom Hangul Word Processor Document.keyKeynoteApple Keynote Presentation.numbersNumbersApple Numbers Spreadsheet.odpODPOpenDocument Presentation.odsODSOpenDocument Spreadsheet.odtODTOpenDocument Text.oneOneNoteMicrosoft OneNote Section File.pagesPagesApple Pages Document.pdfPDFPortable Document Format.pptPPTMicrosoft PowerPoint 97-2003 Presentation.pptxPPTXMicrosoft PowerPoint Open XML Presentation.pubPublisherMicrosoft Publisher Document.rtfRTFRich Text Format.texTeXLaTeX Source Document.txtTXTPlain Text File.wpdWordPerfectWordPerfect Document.wpsWPSMicrosoft Works / WPS Office Document.xlsXLSMicrosoft Excel 97-2003 Spreadsheet.xlsxXLSXMicrosoft Excel Open XML Spreadsheet

Editable, fixed-layout and plain

Document formats serve different goals. Editable office formats (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, ODT) keep text, tables and layout changeable and are actually ZIP bundles of XML underneath. Fixed-layout formats (PDF) freeze a document so it looks identical on every device and printer, at the cost of easy editing. Plain and lightly-formatted text (TXT, RTF, Markdown) is small, portable and opens anywhere.

Choose a fixed-layout PDF when the appearance must not shift, such as an invoice or a contract. Choose an editable office format when the file is still a work in progress or others need to change it.

Why modern office files are really ZIP archives

DOCX, XLSX and PPTX are Open XML packages: rename one to .zip and you can open it to find the XML, images and styles inside. This is why they start with the ZIP signature 50 4B 03 04 and why a corrupted Office file can sometimes be recovered by treating it as an archive.

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