New to Word 2010 and did not have Word 2007
I have new Word 2010 doc.x documents with tables, headers/footers, pictures very basic stuff.
Client has Word 2007
When I google there are no definitive answers.



My question is:

Will my Word 2010 .docx file open and appear exactly the same in their Word 2007 program?

Thanks for your help, much appreciated

Unless you are using features not supported in Word 2007, the document would appear the same in that version, yes. (An example of unsupported features would be the OpenType settings, found in the Font dialog box.)

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

However, be aware that, completely independent of any differences in versions, a document may appear differently on two different machines. See What happens when I send my document to someone else? Will Word mess up my formatting?

If you want your document to look to someone else the same as it looks to you, send it as a pdf, not as a Word document.

Good point. Usually, though, changes attributable to the printer driver should be minor. As always, of course, there are exceptions to that rule... :-(

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

I had to buy an Open Type Font called Avenir as that is what they use and wanted me to use as well. When I open the advanced settings in the font dialog box the open type features are
Ligatures: None
Number spacing: default
Numer Forms: default
Stylistic sets: Default
box of Use Contextual Alternatives is not checked

Is this OK?
Thanks for answering my question, really helps

I didn't have that auto update box ticked off so that's good.
I use heading styles for all my section numbering.
Yes I always do a PDF version as well for printing.
My concern was the headers and footers.
Thanks for the advice, much appreciated

You could select the "Microsoft Word 2007" option in the "Lay out document as if created in" box in File tab | Options | Advanced.

Another thing you could do (but I realize it would be more difficult) is install the driver for the printer that your client is using; you should then be able to see how the client sees the document. (Note that you wouldn't need to get the client's actual printer, just the driver.)

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

Thanks for your help and its been really helpful.
Most of the oil companies I work for still use 2003 and its only been this year where I've had to provide Word .docx files. The University and Technical schools all run the upgrade courses to 2010 and Windows 7 but this issue wasn't discussed.
So this forum really makes a difference for old guys like myself
I hope Windows 8 won't be as big a change as going from 2003 to 2010.