How to open odt? Deciphering a letter with a mysterious attachment

Some new laptops come with an alternative to Microsoft Office Word. By typing in it, a person receives a document in the ODT extension, which is not always read by other text software. As a result, its recipient, who does not have such an application, has a problem opening the file. Read on to find out how to get around it.

General description of the extension

The ODT format belongs to the OpenOffice, LibreOffice and StarOffice programs, developed by OASIS as a free product for distribution, in contrast to the paid Microsoft Office package. You can create and open Word documents, Excel tables, presentations, etc. in them. Initially, these applications were intended for the Linux platform, but later they were adapted for Windows. ODT stands for "Open Text Document", the first letter of the acronym indicates that the program to which it belongs is free. The problem of integrating this type of file into Word is solved by downloading a special plugin, but this does not always lead to the desired result.

Conversion methods

Despite a fairly large number of office packages, few of them support converting ODS to XLS. Mostly online services are used for this purpose. However, this article will focus on special programs.

Method 1: OpenOffice Calc

We can say that Calc is one such application that is native to the ODS format. This program comes in the OpenOffice package.

1. To get started, launch the program. Then open the ODS file

Read more: How to open the ODS format.

In the "File" menu, highlight the "Save As" line.

A window for selecting a save folder opens. Navigate to the directory where you want to save, then edit the file name (if necessary) and specify XLS as the output format. Next, click “Save”.

Click “Use current format” in the next notification window.

Method 2: LibreOffice Calc

Another open spreadsheet processor that can convert ODS to XLS is Calc, which is part of the LibreOffice package.

1. Launch the application. Then you need to open the ODS file.

To convert, click successively on the “File” and “Save As” buttons.

In the window that opens, you first need to go to the folder where you want to save the result. After this, you must enter the object name and select the XLS type. Click on “Save”.

Click “Use Microsoft Excel 97-2003 format.”

Method 3: Excel

Excel is the most powerful program for editing spreadsheets. Can perform ODS to XLS conversion and vice versa.

1. After launch, open the source table.

Read more: How to open ODS format in Excel

While in Excel, click first on “File” and then on “Save As”. In the tab that opens, select “This computer” and “Current folder” one by one. To save in another folder, click on “Browse” and select the desired directory.

The Explorer window opens. In it you need to select a folder to save, enter the file name and select the XLS format. Then click on “Save”.

This completes the conversion process.

Using Windows Explorer, you can view the conversion results.

The disadvantage of this method is that the application is provided as part of the MS Office package under a paid subscription. Due to the fact that the latter contains several programs, its cost is quite high.

As the review showed, there are only two free programs that can convert ODS to XLS. At the same time, such a small number of converters is associated with certain licensing restrictions of the XLS format.

Describe what didn't work for you. Our specialists will try to answer as quickly as possible.

Programs for opening ODT files on your computer

Documents in ODT format can be read by several programs, here's how you can open them:

• OpenOffice Writer.
• LibreOffice Writer.
• Universal Viewer.
• Windows Office.
• Microsoft Word.

Let's start with the very first application - OpenOffice Writer:

1. Download it for free from the official website: select the version for Windows and the appropriate bit depth, install the distribution.

2. Launch the program. Its interface is very similar to Word, so it's easy to understand. Click "File" - "Open" and select the desired document.

3. You can also click on the document - the system itself will recognize how to open the file, because the program is already available.

LibreOffice Writer can also read and edit ODT files:

1. Download it from the developer's website and install it.

2. Open a program window and click Open File.

3. Select the required document.

You can't edit text in Universal Viewer, but you can view it. For this:

1. Download and install the program.
2. Open it and click File – Open.

Unfortunately, the formatting will be completely broken, headings and highlighted areas will disappear. There is also a Windows Office program (not to be confused with the famous Microsoft Office), developed relatively recently, free and capable of opening almost any text format. To use it, just take a few simple steps:

1. Download the program and install.
2. Press Ctrl+O.
3. Select a file.

The package will also contain analogues of Excel and PowerPoint - you can also work with them as with familiar programs, the interface almost completely repeats the design of its predecessors. In Word, starting from version 2003 and higher, you can also open files in the ODT format, but it is no longer so easy. First, you will have to download a special plugin, or install Windows update packages, which released adaptation components that integrate ODT files into Word. In the second case, just go to the Microsoft website, type in “Search”: SP2, download the packages and install them.

To install the Sun ODF Plugin, you need to do the following:

1. Open the official website of Sun.
2. Select the plugin that suits your version of Word.
3. Click Register Now and fill out the registration form.
4. Agree to the terms of use of the product.
5. Download Sun ODF Plugin and run the installation.

6. Make sure that all files are saved in the Program Files directory.
   Read also:  Excel tutorial with examples for intermediate users

Now you can open ODT files through Word in the same way as documents with .doc and .docx extensions.

What Is an ODT File?

An ODT file is an OpenDocument Text Document file. These files are most often created by the free OpenOffice Writer word processor program.

ODT files are similar to the popular DOCX file format used with Microsoft Word. They're both document file types that can hold things like text, images, objects, and styles, and are compatible with lots of programs.

ODT Files.

If your file isn't a document, it might instead be an Origin Dialog Theme file used with the Origin data analysis and graphic software. These files are formatted in XML and used to change how various dialog windows in the program appear.

How to open an ODT file on a smartphone

There are also applications for iPhone and Android that allow you to read and edit files in the ODT format:

1. OpenDocument Reader is capable of not only demonstrating the contents of a document, but also making adjustments, creating new text files, and also speaking out what is written.

2. Open Office Viewer - has almost the same set of functions as the previous one, but also reads PDF files and many other text formats.

3. DOC to ODT Converter is a program that can convert a DOC file to ODT and vice versa.

For Android all these applications are free, and for iPhone they are shareware.

Criticism of ODF

The ODF specification version 1.0 has been criticized for the following reasons:

• The standard does not describe the specifications of scripts and macros, which play an important role in office applications. The result of this is that there are different implementations of the scripts in different applications.
• The OpenDocument Format 1.0-1.1 specification talks about the ZIP format, but there is no reference to a standard that describes it.

And also reasons that were corrected in ODF version 1.2 or OpenFormula:

• Although OpenOffice.org allows you to use digital signatures and save them in ODF using XML-DSig, the OpenDocument Format 1.0-1.1 standard itself does not describe the use of digital signatures. However, the new version 1.2 of the format already includes XML-DSig similar to that used in OpenOffice.org.
• The ISO OpenDocument Format specification does not define a formula language, which means that corresponding files are not required to be compatible. OASIS is working on standardizing OpenFormula for ODF version 1.2.
• The ODF 1.0-1.1 specifications do not allow the use of tables in presentations. These features are now included in version 1.2 developed by OASIS.

Online services for working with files in ODT format

If you rarely have to deal with ODT documents and don’t want to install additional programs for a single case, online viewers, editors and converters will come to the rescue. The most popular of them:

1. Built-in text file editor in Yandex Browser. If you use this Internet surfer, then just drag the document into the address bar for it to open. If desired, you can call up a set of tools and adjust the text.
2. Google Docs is a popular resource with an interface reminiscent of Word. There will be a folder icon on the start page: click on it and click “Upload”, and then select the file. To work with this editor, you must be registered with Google services.

3. Zoho Docs is an analogue of the previous one, most popular in the English-speaking environment. Before you start, you will have to create an account or use an existing one on Google or Microsoft. Next, click Docs and Upload to select the file.

How to download OpenOffice for free and without registration

Before examining in detail what the online version of the OpenOffice plugin is, it is recommended to understand the procedure for free and accessible downloading of a regular utility that has a standard set of tools and meets all modern user requirements. Here we can highlight the following:

You can also specify the path to the file if you plan to download the installation file to a specific, convenient location in the memory of your computer, laptop or other suitable device. This will avoid some difficulties with the subsequent search for an installer.

What else could be causing problems with the file?

Also, when trying to open an ODT file, the following problems may occur:

1. Incompatibility of the plugin for Word with a pirated version of Windows - in this case, the document format either remains unidentified, or the content is converted into a set of characters.
2. The file is damaged during downloading and cannot be viewed using any of the suggested methods.

In the first case, it is enough to change the viewer program to gain access to the text, but in the second, you will have to give up trying to open the document.