My wife only recently allowed me to update her from Office 2007 to Office 2016. She has many Word 2003 files that cannot be modified in Word 2016. They open in a "Compatibility" mode, read only. I tried to use the "Convert" button in INfo, but it doesn't seem to do anything.



Any suggestions?

Have you tried using the Save As option and opt to Save as type - Word Document in the dropdown menu?

In the trust center change the file block settings.

Yes, that was the first thing I tried … but the files are "Read Only" and it cannot be done.

I have removed all check marks and I still cannot save the files

The first thing to say is that there is no need to change anything about these files. Word 2016 can open DOC format files.

'Compatibilty Mode' is not an error message it is merely an indication that the current file was created with an earlier version of Word. Updating such files can alter their appearance, not always beneficially. I can't think of any good reason to change them.

That said check whether the files in question are flagged as read only and whether you have write permission to write to the folder where you propose saving them.

You may find http://www.gmayor.com/document_batch_processes.htm useful

__________________
Graham Mayor - MS MVP (Word) (2002-2019)
Visit my web site for more programming tips and ready made processes www.gmayor.com

As others have said, compatibility mode just means that the documents do not support the most recent features of the Word 2016 *.docx format. In practice, that doesn't mean much, though, as Word 2016 can still edit them.

If documents open in Protected view, you should be able to click Allow editing. Note that if the affected documents are really old you may have to change the settings for Protected view in Trust Center.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

After much consternation and a lot of work, the problem turned out to be a problem with "permissions", which I solved with Tweaking.coms free Windows Repair software .

Thanks to the the freeware developers.

For more on permissions in Windows, see https://www.howtogeek.com/301768/how...rs-in-windows/.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional