When a file is opened which uses an old file extension or was created in an earlier version of Microsoft Office, you will see appear in the title bar of the program. An M will allow a user to identify the file uses XML with macros, whilst a file with an X appended will identify the file uses XML with no macros. These new file extensions now have either an m or x appended to the end. XML provides a definition of how a file will be structured and has given new functionality to the Office suite of programs. The new file format is based on XML, which stands for Extensible Markup Language. Where possible it is best to use the latest file format for your files.

The new file extension provides many benefits including better file compression, better privacy controls, improved data recovery methods, and easier detection of files containing macros. With the introduction of Microsoft Word 2007, and every version released since, Microsoft Word uses a new file format, *.docx. The file extension is a way to identify which program is used to open the file. Documents created in Microsoft Word are known to have a *.doc file extension. When dealing with Compatibility mode issues, it is important to understand how file formats work. Let’s take a look at how to fix compatibility mode in a Word document. Compatibility mode identifies to the user that a document is not using the most recent file format.

Does your document show in the Word title bar? You’ll be happy to know that this is a simple fix.

Word 2016 disable compatibility mode