How To Open Microsoft Works (.WPS) Files Without MS Word

This guide will show you how to open .WPS files (files created with the Microsoft Works app) without having Microsoft Works or Microsoft Word installed.

Once upon a time, Microsoft had an app named “Works”. Even though it was retired 10 years ago, it continues to be used today on older PC’s and in certain industries that haven’t adopted new software. For quite some time, the only way to open .WPS files – ones created in Microsoft Works – was to have Microsoft Works itself installed. Eventually Microsoft realized this was a bit silly and added support for .wps files to Microsoft Word. This solved the problem for a lot of people, but if you didn’t have Microsoft Word you were left to try and use file conversion software that often didn’t work properly.

Then a very easy solution presented itself – LibreOffice! LibreOffice is an open source (free) Office suite of apps, and is compatible with most Microsoft Office file formats. Best of all, it’s available for Windows, macOS and Linux.

Downloading an entire Office suite to open one file might seem like a bit of overkill, but it’s a surprisingly small download, doesn’t take up much hard drive space, and doesn’t take much time at all to install. Give it a shot!

1. The installation is completely straight forward – mostly you’ll just click Next a few times. When you’re asked which type of installation you want, select Typical.
2. Once the installation has completed you’ll be prompted to restart your PC. Close any open apps and save any open work, then restart. Once you’re back up and running, locate one of the .WPS files that you’re trying to open and double-click it.
3. Ta-da! LibreOffice will open the Writer app and display your file.
4. Some of the formatting may be off but it should be fine otherwise.

We’re such big fans of LibreOffice that we suggest it as one of the 30-something Apps to install on a New Mac.