TLDR: can I edit docx files on word without a subscription and if not what are some apps that can allow me to do so
Like the title says I need the ability to edit .docx for college (sadly other file formats aren’t accepted AFAIK) and my Microsoft 365 subscription is expiring and will not be renewed thanks to you lovely people getting me on the Proton family of software and obsidian for note taking.
However i created a .docx file today and and got a popup in word saying my Microsoft subscription is expiring soon (in march I believe) and that I would lose many feature.
This scary message wasn’t very helpful as to what features id lose (probably a lot of them I don’t even use) but the internet has not been helpful in telling me if I can still view and edit all my docx files that I have been collecting and creating over the years and have migrated to my proton drive
If I won’t be able to access docx files in word what are some apps that can open them from my proton drive (this is a hard requirement for me).
Due to its proprietary nature, finding software that can properly read those files can be tricky.
LibreOffice is the usual go-to for folks wanting an office suite, that respects privacy, and FOSS. It can read docx files, but it can mess up formatting. Still, for many it’s the preferred choice. It’s got the best reputation.
Now if formatting REALLY matters, take a look at OnlyOffice. It handles those MS formats so much better. It’s not a bad suite, but it’s hard to beat the good reputation Libreoffice has gained.
Docx is not a proprietary format, it's a standard, it's called Office Open XML: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_Open_XML
And M$ published its specifications, so Libreoffice devs could support it. But here comes the funny part: M$ (deliberately?) doesn't follow the specification it published. So the formatting problems of LibreOffice come from M$, because they don't follow their specs, but M$ can just do whatever they want because of its market share.
I read this story a long time ago, and I'm paraphrasing, but on this wiki page you can read a lot of controversies related to this format: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standardization_of_Office_Open_XML
Oh this is helpful
Yeah another person said it gets funky with formatting but that’s not a huge deal for me as the most complex formats for the class syllabus I like to just have a copy but probably nothing I can’t do by saving it as a pdf
And like I said in those comments my own documents aren’t complex mostly just using tab and enter to make my documents more readable for myself
I second every suggestions about Libreoffice. It's free, open source and works in Windows, MacOS and Linux.
The problems lies in the different rendering engine. If you have table of contents, floating image and anything that impact text flow; it will be rendered differently between the two apps.
I still use Libreoffice as my primary editor, but if I need to send docs to other people, I will export it to PDF. But if I really need to send docx or pptx, I will format it in WPS office before sending the docs to others.
Thanks for the suggestions. I was going to use libreoffice as the main editor but then use open office if my document had images or anything that doesn't play nice with libreoffice but the pdf suggestion sounds better
Yeah another commentor suggested it but said it gets funky with formatting but I’m definitely gonna check it out
Also is this it. Just wanna make sure before I download the first libreoffice I see lol
Yes. That's it. Yes, there can be some problems with formatting. The most common one, though, is fonts. Try it out and see how it goes.
Also, you can open it in Google Drive. But that's not privacy respecting
If you only need a word processor, try Abiword. Otherwise if you need a full office suite: LibreOffice
You can still use Microsoft word web version after your 365 expires. The mobile app has ads if you don’t have a subscription.
Like I said I have all these files on proton drive
Assuming I stick with word and don’t move to libreoffice like a few comments have suggested- in a desktop environment is really the only difference that it’s now going to open in a web browser, I’m just asking incase it doesn’t play nice with proton drive
My Microsoft 365 subscription is expiring and will not be renewed thanks to you lovely people getting me on the Proton family of software and obsidian for note taking.
I mean... Why would you ditch a service you evidently NEED just because some stranger on the internet told you so?
That said, there's plenty of offline programs that can work on .dock files, such as OnlyOffice and LIbreoffice (with varying degrees of compatibility with existing files). Good luck!
You can activate it with these scripts https://github.com/massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts (I think it's the easiest way for you as you are already using it and the only issue it's the stupid message to force you to pay for it)
But would be nice if you were not forced to use Microsoft Office.
