I cannot open Office Open XML anymore on macOS Mojave

A few days ago, I updated my Macbook Air to macOS Mojave. Unfortunately, I am not able to open or click on Office Open XML files anymore. I also cannot select these files to send with e-mails. Somehow, Word saved my Word-documents as ''Office Open XML'' files in place of ''Microsoft Word document'' files when running on macOS High Sierra.


I do not know what to do and also cannot find answers somewhere else. These documents form the majority of my docx files and I really need them.


I hope someone can help me out with this problem,


Thanks!

MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015)

Posted on Oct 21, 2018 8:53 AM

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7 replies

Oct 21, 2018 9:53 AM in response to MacOpen

Both document formats are zip-compressed folders that are renamed .docx. The contents of Word .docx documents are a collection of XML files. Preview, TextEdit, Pages (pick a version), and LibreOffice will all open these .docx documents. Right-click on the .docx and observe the list of applications under Open With... .


Select a .docx icon, and press option+command+i to show info. In the Open with: section, what application is shown to open these .docx files by default?

Oct 21, 2018 10:30 AM in response to VikingOSX

Thanks for your reply. When doing that nothing will appear as if I didn't command it to open. I tried now to transfer the files through usb (cause it won't send it through email, nor through airdrop), and opened them on a macbook pro on High Sierra, then it shows that the files are corrupted..! It seems that ALL my word-documents have become like this. And this happened AFTER the update to Mojave. It just doesn't make sense that on my own macbook it won't follow up any command as if the file isn't there, but now on another macbook it shows me that it's corrupted and is missing contents. Any ideas?

Oct 21, 2018 10:37 AM in response to MacOpen

Mojave did not corrupt a single Word .docx file that was on my drive prior to the upgrade from High Sierra.


Do these Word .docx document icon show a black icon with green exec in it? There should be no reason you cannot single-click on one of these .docx files under Mojave, and then Show Info about the file with option+command+i.


You could always install LibreOffice v6.* and then open each of these .docx files on Yosemite, and save it again as Word 2007-2019 (docx). Bet that fixes them.


What version of Word were you using prior to the Mojave upgrade?

Oct 21, 2018 11:07 AM in response to VikingOSX

No it does not have a black icon with green exec in it. Well, I can single click the files that's not the issue, but any other commands (sharing, sending, opening etc.) it just won't do it except for copying to usb memory card. And when I tried to open it through another mac it said that all the files are corrupted. I'm using an updated Office 365.

Oct 22, 2018 7:47 AM in response to MacOpen

As I suggested, open and resave one of the Word .docx files in LibreOffice Writer, then share it with one of the Macs that claimed it corrupted beforehand. Does that work? I have encountered circumstances where Word would not open its own document until the LibreOffice Writer open/resave had occurred.


If you are using Office 2016/2019 for Mac, and have used features unique to these versions, then attempting to open that document in a 2008 or 2011 version of Word may be met with angst.

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I cannot open Office Open XML anymore on macOS Mojave

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