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# About Converting Microsoft Office Documents

LibreOffice can automatically open Microsoft Office 97/2000/XP documents. However, some layout features and formatting attributes in more complex Microsoft Office documents are handled differently in LibreOffice or are unsupported. As a result, converted files require some degree of manual reformatting. The amount of reformatting that can be expected is proportional to the complexity of the structure and formatting of the source document. LibreOffice cannot run Visual Basic Scripts, but can load them for you to analyze.

The most recent versions of LibreOffice can load and save the Microsoft Office Open XML document formats with the extensions docx, xlsx, and pptx. The same versions can also run some Excel Visual Basic scripts, if you enable this feature at LibreOffice - Preferences Tools - Options - Load/Save - VBA Properties.

The following lists provide a general overview of Microsoft Office features that may cause conversion challenges. These will not affect your ability to use or work with the content of the converted document.

## Microsoft Word

1. AutoShapes

2. Revision marks

3. OLE objects

4. Certain controls and Microsoft Office form fields

5. Indexes

6. Tables, frames, and multi-column formatting

7. Hyperlinks and bookmarks

8. Microsoft WordArt graphics

9. Animated characters/text

## Microsoft PowerPoint

1. AutoShapes

2. Tab, line, and paragraph spacing

3. Master background graphics

4. Grouped objects

5. Certain multimedia effects

## Microsoft Excel

1. AutoShapes

2. OLE objects

3. Certain controls and Microsoft Office form fields

4. Pivot tables

5. New chart types

6. Conditional formatting

7. Some functions/formulas (see below)

One example of differences between Calc and Excel is the handling of boolean values. Enter TRUE to cells A1 and A2.

- In Calc, the formula =A1+A2 returns the value 2, and the formula =SUM(A1;A2) returns 2.

- In Excel, the formula =A1+A2 returns 2, but the formula =SUM(A1,A2) returns 0.

For a detailed overview about converting documents to and from Microsoft Office format, see the Migration Guide.

## Opening Microsoft Office Documents That Are Protected With a Password

LibreOffice can open the following Microsoft Office document types that are protected by a password.

Microsoft Office format | Supported encryption method
--- | ---
Word 6.0, Word 95 | Weak XOR encryption
Word 97, Word 2000, Word XP, Word 2003 | Office 97/2000 compatible encryption
Word XP, Word 2003 | Weak XOR encryption from older Word versions
Excel 2.1, Excel 3.0, Excel 4.0, Excel 5.0, Excel 95 | Weak XOR encryption
Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel XP, Excel 2003 | Office 97/2000 compatible encryption
Excel XP, Excel 2003 | Weak XOR encryption from older Excel versions

Microsoft Office files that are encrypted by AES128 can be opened. Other encryption methods are not supported.

Related Topics

Using Microsoft Office and LibreOffice

Changing the Association of Microsoft Office Document Types

Setting the default file format

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