Recipient cannot open Word document edited on MacBook

First time user of MacBook . I have an email from someone which has a Word doc attachment that I need to edit and send back. I have tried it but they say they cannot open it.

Please tell me the steps to do this

Posted on Nov 10, 2026 9:50 AM

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Posted on Nov 10, 2026 10:27 AM

If you don't have MS Word installed, then what App are you editing the document in? Remember, we can't see what you see, so we don't know what you are doing unless you tell us.


Usually you would want to have the Word app to edit Word documents. If you don't, it may be defaulting to a different app like Apple's own Pages app.


Sounds like it is opening the file in Pages which converts the file into a Pages document before opening it, and when you save it, it saves as a Pages document, not a Word Document. So it's understandable the recipient then can't open it on a Windows PC without the Pages App.


If this is true, then when saving the document in Pages, select the "Export To" option from the File menu instead of Save, and choose the "Word..." option to save it as an actual Word document.


Beyond that, you may want to get Microsoft Word if you are going to be sharing Word documents as Pages' translation is not always 100% accurate and there may be discrepancies specially in heavily formatted documents that use very specific Word formatting and set up.


6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 10, 2026 10:27 AM in response to driftwood-29

If you don't have MS Word installed, then what App are you editing the document in? Remember, we can't see what you see, so we don't know what you are doing unless you tell us.


Usually you would want to have the Word app to edit Word documents. If you don't, it may be defaulting to a different app like Apple's own Pages app.


Sounds like it is opening the file in Pages which converts the file into a Pages document before opening it, and when you save it, it saves as a Pages document, not a Word Document. So it's understandable the recipient then can't open it on a Windows PC without the Pages App.


If this is true, then when saving the document in Pages, select the "Export To" option from the File menu instead of Save, and choose the "Word..." option to save it as an actual Word document.


Beyond that, you may want to get Microsoft Word if you are going to be sharing Word documents as Pages' translation is not always 100% accurate and there may be discrepancies specially in heavily formatted documents that use very specific Word formatting and set up.


Nov 10, 2026 10:00 AM in response to driftwood-29

Hi,

Hard to offer any advice without any details.


How are you editing the document exactly?

And how are you saving it?

Are you sure you re sending a Word doc back to them, and not a Pages document for instance?

What do they say happens when they try to open it exactly? Do they get an error? If so, what does it say?

Do you have Microsoft Word installed on your Mac?


Provide some details and context, and we may be able to advise.

Recipient cannot open Word document edited on MacBook

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