How to Open WPS (Works) Documents in Windows 10 & 11

Abraham Smith

Microsoft Works is a discontinued productivity suite that was canceled in 2009. Although MS Office has overshadowed Works, many users still use Works word processor. And when users save their documents in Works, they are saved in a WPS document format.

Some users still have old Works WPS files lying around on their PCs. These users may wonder how to open old WPS files without Works as this is no longer a widely supported format. Although you can download and mount an MS Works ISO to install the original suite, there are easier ways to open WPS documents in Windows 10 and 11.


How to open WPS files with LibreOffice Writer

LibreOffice is one of the best freely available MS Office alternatives and supports WPS format. It comes with a word processor, database, spreadsheet and presentation application (slide show). Therefore, we recommend users to download and install LibreOffice to open WPS files. Here’s how to open WPS Works documents with LibreOffice’s Writer software.

  1. Open the LibreOffice 7.4.0 download page.
  2. Choose Windows (64-bit) in the OS drop down menu and click the Download Button. 32-bit platform users should select the Windows (32-bit) Possibility.
  3. Next, select to open a Downloads Tab in your browser software that displays downloaded items. In Chrome you can press ctrl + J to access this tab.
  4. Double-click the LibreOffice_7.4.0_Win_x64.msi installer file to open its window.
  5. Choose Next to bring up two installation options.
  6. press the Typical radio button and select it Next Possibility.
  7. Then select LibreOffice To install Possibility.
  8. click Finished to exit the LibreOffice setup wizard.
  9. A dialog box prompts you to restart Windows after installation. Select to restart your PC.

Once LibreOffice Writer is installed, it’s time to crack your WPS files:

  1. Once restarted, open the LibreOffice Writer application on your PC. If you’re not sure where to open it from, press Win+ S and type “LibreOffice Writer” in the search tool.
  2. Click LibreOffice file Menu.
  3. Then click Open to select a WPS file to view in the word processor.
  4. Choose Open to view and edit your selected WPS document.

How to open WPS files with File Viewer Plus 4

If you only need to view WPS files, not edit them, you might be interested in File Viewer Plus 4 (FVP 4). File Viewer Plus 4 is a file opener app that you can download from MS Store. The free version of this app supports more than 200 file types including WPS format. You can open WPS documents with FVP 4 as follows:

  1. Open the Microsoft Store, which will likely be pinned to your Start menu.
  2. Type File Viewer Plus 4 in the MS Store search text box.
  3. In the search results, click File Viewer Plus 4.
  4. Press the app Receive Button.
  5. click Open on the MS Store page of the app to bring up the File Viewer Plus 4 window.
  6. Choose browse files to open the app’s folder navigator.
  7. Double-click a WPS file to view it in the app.

How to open WPS files by converting them to a PDF format

Neither LibreOffice nor File Viewer Plus 4 guarantees that all WPS files will open with their formatting perfectly preserved. Some users may prefer to convert their WPS documents to PDF format instead. This better preserves the original formatting of the document and allows you to open the PDF in Firefox, Edge, Google Chrome and other software packages. How to convert WPS documents to PDF with Convertio web app:

  1. Go to Convertio’s WPS to PDF Converter page in Edge or another web browser.
  2. Choose Choose files option there.
  3. Choose a WPS file to convert and click on it Open.
  4. Press the red one Convert Button.
  5. Click Convertios Download Button to save the new PDF document.
  6. Press Win + E and open the folder containing the downloaded PDF document.

Then you can open the former WPS document by right-clicking the converted PDF and selecting it Open with > edge. If Edge is your default PDF software, double-clicking this file will automatically open it in this browser.

Note that you cannot edit the content of PDF documents. If you need to edit a WPS document, try converting it to a DOC/DOCX MS Word format as described in the last method below. Then you can open it in a variety of word processors since DOCX is a widely supported format.

How to open WPS files with Microsoft Word 2016-2019

Microsoft Word 2016-2019 supported file format list includes WPS format for Works versions 6.0-9.0. So you should be able to open WPS documents from newer Works versions with Word 2016, 2019 or 365 applications. However, older Word software cannot open WPS files.

Microsoft Word’s office suite is not free. A one-year license for MS Office 365 suite will set you back $79.99. Users who don’t have the Microsoft Office suite installed are probably better off opening their WPS files with freely available alternatives such as LibreOffice and File Viewer Plus 4.

However, if you already have an MS Word app from 2016 (or higher) installed, you can use it to open a WPS file without any problems. click file in the Word menu bar Open. Then click This PC to select a WPS document to open in the application.

How to open WPS files by converting them to Word’s DOC/DOCX format

MS Word is not always completely reliable when opening heavily formatted WPS documents. It’s not entirely uncommon for Word 2016 to open WPS documents with gibberish content, even though that application supports the format. Therefore, users may still need to convert some of their WPS documents to Word’s editable DOC or DOCX formats.

There used to be a Microsoft Works 6-9 File Converter tool to convert WPS files to Word’s DOC format. However, the capital M removed this utility from its download center. Still, you can convert WPS documents to DOC or DOCX with FreeConvert’s online conversion tool as follows:

  1. Open the WPS to Word Converter website.
  2. click Choose files and select a WPS Works file.
  3. Then click on the output Drop-down menu to select a DOC or DOCX format.
  4. Press the Convert to Word Button.
  5. Click on the blue Download Button.
  6. Then you can open the converted DOC/DOCX file in Microsoft Word from the folder your browser downloaded to.

Look at your old WPS files

So you don’t need MS Works software to open old WPS documents. LibreOffice Writer, Microsoft Word, and File Viewer Plus 4 are decent software packages for opening WPS files. Or convert your WPD files to PDF format to open in browsers if you just want to view their contents.

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