I have changed the setting in word for documents to be saved as Word 97-2003 documents but they are still being saved as DOCX. How do I stop this? The attachment comes in as a word document but will only save as a DOCX.

The file format you select in the Options dialog box applies to files that you create. Attachments that you receive from other people will be in the format the sender chose. You will have to resave the attachments manually after downloading them.

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Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

I have tried this but word will only let me save as DOCX even though it has been sent as a word document. When I try to save the options are DOCX FILE or ALL FILES. There is no option for Word 97/2003.

You should be able to (re-)open the document in Word after you saved it to the hard drive and then resave. Are you saying that "Word 97-2003 document (*.doc)" is not offered in Word's Save As dialog box?

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Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

No only DOCX or ALL FILES.

This is strange. In the Save As dialog, you shouldn't be seeing "All Files" at all, only specific file formats.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional