Windows 10 WordPad .docx vs. Microsoft Word .docx ?

Is saving a document in .docx the same in either Microsoft program? I’ve seen comments where people say WordPad cannot properly open a .docx file made in Word. And that WordPad cannot save a file in .docx.

This relatively new article from Feb 2022 and says WordPad cannot save in .docx, and that .rtf is the default.
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/differ...and-microsoft/

Yet WordPad is in my Windows 21H2 & does have an option to save in .docx. However .rtf is the default which makes me question why not .docx.

I don‘t have Word but would like to know that what I’m saving in WordPad 21H2 is compatible with Word.

Does anyone have any experience swapping .docx documents between the two?
Thanks

WordPad does warn you about potential problems when you open a '.docx" file.

I wouldn't have a problem opening a ".docx" file with WordPad that was created with Word but. I wouldn't chance saving that file in WordPad. However, if the file was created in WordPad then I see no problem saving it in WordPad in ".docx".

I have Microsoft Word so that is what I normally use. The only time I find Wordpad useful is right after I install Windows and before Office is installed. For the computers I have that don't have Word I have installed FreeOffice. Its Word equivalent is called TextMaker. It has its own file format but I changed its default to ".docx".

BTW, I have tried OpenOffice and LibreOffice but I like FreeOffice better. Note like the others FreeOffice is free. The company does offer a paid version of its office suite called SoftMaker Office.

dalchina said:

Hi, so does mine:

- but only because I have Libre Office installed, so compatibility would depend on how closely that followed the specs for docx, and perhaps depend on which version it was.

I suggest you examine what you have installed that provides non-native docx as an option. Another Office ssuite perhaps?

I do have LibreOffice installed and my WordPad options look just like yours. Are you saying LO somehow added their .docx option to the drop down menu list of WordPad?

Callender said:

As far as I can work out Office Open XML Document formats were included with WordPad since 2007.

WordPad - Wikipedia

WordPad Guide

Thanks for the links, especially the WordPad Guide.

The guide says "You can open Microsoft Word documents in WordPad. However, some features of the Word document will not be available." I’m presuming they are referring to .docx files which I’m guessing is the default in Word.

In the "How To Save In WordPad" section, they don’t discuss "Other Formats" which gives you access to "Save as type" which includes Office Open XML Document (*docx).

If I save a WordPad document as .docx, LibreOffice will open it. If I then again "Save As", LO defaults to saving it in "Word 2007-365 (*.docx)", not the "Office Open XML (Transitional) (*.docx)" format.

I used LibreOffice and saved a document in both Word 2007-365 (*.docx) and Office Open XML (Transitional) (*.docx). When I use WordPad to open either version I get a message "WordPad does not support all of the features of this document’s format. Some content might be missing or displayed improperly."

If I understand correctly, WordPad .docx is a stripped down version of Word .docx. If I use WordPad and save in .docx then any program that can open .docx files should be able to open my basic .docx files. Is that correct?