File Extensions of Electronic Documents

Please contact your instructor regarding instructions for submitting assignments electronically. Some instructors have difficulty opening documents saved with certain file extensions, such as documents created with MS Works, WordPerfect, or ClarisWorks.

MS Works comes packaged with most IBM compatible home computers and IS NOT the same thing as MS Word. You should be able to see the difference when you go to the word processing program on your computer. If you are still unsure, open MS Works and go to the HELP menu at the top of the page. There should be an item there that says “About ….”  When you select it, you will see the program name and version of your word processing program. EXAMPLE: Microsoft Office Word 2003.

If you have a program that is not compatible with your professor's, you can save your files in Rich Text Format by clicking on “File” and “Save As,” and then changing the file type to Rich Text Format. This will cause the extension to change to (.rtf.). If you only have access to WordPerfect, you can save your files as (.doc), (.txt), or (.rtf), or (.html) files by clicking on “File” and “Save As”, and then switching to the desired file type.