Why do documents open in compatibility mode

Some new features in Word can cause a document to look different when it is viewed by using an earlier version of Word. In some cases, part of a document that is created by using new features can't be edited in an earlier version of Word. Compatibility mode turns off new features that can cause incompatibility with earlier versions.

If you share a document with someone who uses an earlier version of Word, consider using compatibility mode. To use compatibility mode, you can either open a document that has a. Solution: Save the document with compatibility mode turned off. I can't add a chart or SmartArt graphic. Open a document in a later version of Word. Word for Mac Word for Mac More Need more help?

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We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. The compatibility mode in Word Word If you open a document Word created in an older version of Microsoft Word, you may see Compatibility Mode near the filename of the document in the title bar:. Failed to send the question. Please try again. Therefore, you will not see the text [Compatibility Mode] if, for example, you open a document in Word for Microsoft even if the document was created or last saved in Word , , or Figure 1.

Compatibility Mode shown in the Title bar of Word document means that it was created or last saved in an earlier version of Word than the version you are using. As long as a document is showing [Compatibility Mode], new or changed Word features that were not included in the earlier version will be disabled. This means that the document can still be edited by people who are using the earlier version of Word. Also, a document in Compatibility Mode preserves the layout of the document from the earlier version.

In many cases, you can just ignore the information about Compatibility Mode. However, if you understand what it means, you can better decide whether you want or need to update the document to get out of Compatibility Mode.

If you open a document that is showing [Compatibility Mode], you can convert it to the format of your current Word version. Note that this may change the layout of the document. Also, people using an earlier version of Word may no longer be able to work with all parts of the document that have been created using newer features. See how to update a document to get out of Compatibility Mode below. The text [Compatibility Mode] in the Title bar tells you that the document was created or last saved in an earlier version of Word.

However, the information does not tell you which Word version it originates from. You can find out which specific mode the document is in.

The following steps apply to Word , , , , and Figure 2. Figure 3. A check mark is shown next to the name of the document's current mode. In some situations, content in a Word document may change if the document if opened in an earlier version than the version used when creating or editing the document.

This happens, for example, if you have used features for creating content that isn't supported in earlier versions of Word. If you know that a document is going to be opened by users with an earlier version of Word than the one you are using, it is relevant to check whether there will be compatibility issues.

TIP : If you know for sure that some users with earlier versions of Word need to work with a specific document, it may be most practical to change the Compatibility Mode back to the earliest version in use. This will disable the features in your Word that are not compatible with the earlier version s.

Then you don't risk using content types that will not work in earlier versions. See also the information about special compatibility issues in relation to table later in this article.

Example : You have created a document in Word or a newer version of Word. You have inserted check box content controls in the document. If the document is to be opened in Word or an earlier version, Word can't show check box content controls since they were not implemented until Word Therefore, Word needs to change the check box content controls to something else, as close to check box content controls as possible.

You can check whether there are such issues in relation to the content in a document. Figure 4. The Microsoft Word Compatibility Checker dialog box can show compatibility issues for different Word versions. In this example, the information tells that Word needs to change check box content controls if the document is opened in Word selected in the Select version to show — not visible here. In the heading above, I have used the term "update" in relation to getting out of Compatibility Mode.

You may instead think of it as removing or turning off Compatibility Mode. Figure 5. Figure 6. Message about what happens when converting a Word document. In case the document was in.

The old file will be replaced by the converted version. If a document has been set to maintain the compatibility with earlier versions of Word, you can have it converted to the current version of Word as follows:.

Figure 7. In the Save A s dialog box, turn off Maintain compatibility with previous versions of Word and click Save. There may be situations where you want to set a document back to Compatibility Mode. This could be the case if you want to be able to turn on a special compatibility option that was available in an earlier version of Word and that is not available in the current version.

The situation may also be that you rely on Word add-ins or macros that are not compatible with your version of Word. You may also want to set a document back to a specific Compatibility Mode if users elsewhere need to work with the document and if those users are using an earlier version of Word.

You can set a document back to a specific Compatibility Mode using a macro. As mentioned earlier, you may not need to do anything about documents in Compatibility Mode. However, you can change the situation, if you want. If Word starts with a blank document in Compatibility Mode, it indicates that the template Normal.