Help with Microsoft Office 2007

Office 2007

New computers come with Microsoft Office 2007, which is very different from Office XP/Office 2003. The old menu system was replaced with a context-sensitive "ribbon" toolbar and the file formats have changed - the resulting filenames have extensions ending with an "x" such as .docx.

Opening files in older versions of Office

If you need to open an Office 2007 file in an older version of Office, you need to download and install the Office Compatibility Pack on your older computer, which will allow you to read and save in the new file formats. Please note that district computers may require that one have administrative rights to install that upgrade.

Another option is to always save documents in Office 2007 in the older Office format. To make the change, first click on the round "Office Button" at the top left of Word 2007 (or another Office 2007 program you are using). Then, at the lower right of the window that appears, click on "Word Options" (or the similar thing in other applications). In the next screen that comes up, click on "Save" in the column at the left. In the panel that appears at the right, you’ll notice an option called "Save Files in this format," with a drop-down list of choices next to it. Display the list of choices by clicking on the arrow and select "Word 97-2003 Document (*.doc)" (or something similar in the other applications). Then, click OK at the bottom of the window.

Help with the new Office 2007 programs

Microsoft has created various tools to help you learn about the new version of Office:

General Help with Office 2007

Outlook 2007

Word 2007

PowerPoint 2007

Excel 2007