Convert ODT to DOC - solution for Apple Mac and Windows PC

Did someone send you a text file in the .odt format or downloaded a text collection made up of lots of ODT files? Then you may not be able to open and view them with the programs on your computer. In this little guide, I'll show you what's behind the file format, which programs can be used for opening and editing, and how ODT can be converted into DOC. At the end you can read, edit and continue to use the texts on the Apple Mac with macOS as well as on the Windows PC.

Convert ODT to DOC on an Apple Mac or a Windows PC - this is possible with the app shown here!
Convert ODT to DOC on an Apple Mac or a Windows PC - this is possible with the app shown here!

What is an ODT file?

ODT stands for OpenDocumentText and is part of an open format group which, in addition to the text format, also includes file formats for spreadsheets (.ods = OpenDocument Spreadsheet), images (.odi = OpenDocument Image) and so on. You have surely come across the “OpenOffice” app collection - that's exactly why the group comes from file formats. 

The program packages based on it, such as StarOffice, Oracle Open Office and so on, also work with the OpenDocument formats. In most cases, however, they also support the output of files in Microsoft Office formats such as .doc or .docx. Therefore, the best way to convert ODT to DOC is to install and use OpenOffice or similar program packages - here the free download on openoffice.org.

More information about OpenDocument: at Wikipedia!

Convert ODT to DOC - Here's how!

If you don't have Microsoft Office on your Apple Mac or Windows PC, then download the free open source software for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and more. Then open the ODT file and save it again; as a DOC or DOCX document. So you can most likely send them on without further compatibility problems and even with Apple Pages use under macOS. 

However, if you have installed the Microsoft Office or MS Word app collection as a single program on your Windows PC, you can also use it to convert ODT to DOC. Provided, of course, that you are using a current version of Word. Because ODT files are only supported from version 2007 with SP2. Microsoft Office for the Mac does not support the format; on iOS, however, ODT can be converted to OOXML if that helps.

Open ODT with Pages?

Pages under macOS cannot do anything with the OpenDocument format, which is why you cannot convert an ODT to DOC with the free program from Apple. Only the following formats can be opened and saved with Pages on the Apple Mac:

  • Office Open XML (.docx) and Office 97 or newer (.doc)
  • Formatted text (.rtf / .rtfd)
  • Text files (.txt)
  • PDF
  • EPUB
  • Pages '09

Conclusion on converting ODT to DOC

Converting ODT to DOC is possible with free apps from the Internet that are based on the OpenOffice software or with this software itself. You should use the website shown above for the free download and refrain from loading OpenOffice, StarOffice or the like from CHIP, heise, Softonic and Co. Why? I have summarized that for you here: Why you shouldn't download software from download portals.

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