Did you just receive a document in .ODT format but you have no idea what is it? In this tutorial we will explain to you what .ODT file is and how you can open it using the following methods explained in this page.

What Is .ODT File?

For every text document that’s saved in OpenDocument, the filename extension will end in .ODT format, which stands for OpenDocument Text. Microsoft Office 2007 SP2 has released native support for this format, but for those who are using previous version of Microsoft Office, you will not be able to open this file directly from the program itself.

How Can I Open It Then?

There are 4 ways to open it:
a. Installing Sun ODF Plugin, which allows you to read, edit and save to the ISO-standard Open Document Format
b. Install add-on that allows you to open .ODT file within Microsoft Office
c. Install OpenOffice
d. Use a file converter to convert the document from .odt format to .doc format

1st Step : Sun ODF Plugin

Once you have installed the plugin, you can open .ODT file directly from Microsoft Word simply by clicking on the file. Platform supported includes Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP and Office 2003. Do note that the size of the plugin is 75.7 MB, so make sure you have plenty of free space before installing it.

**It’s available for download here.**

2nd Step : ODF addon for Microsoft Word

It includes a plug-in which allows import and export of OpenDocument files. Simply install this addon and you can open the file directly from Microsoft Word. Click on ‘File > Open ODF’.

While Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010 provide native support of ODT file, there might be compatibility issues which text might not display properly. This addon supports all versions of Microsoft Word, and it can be downloaded from here.

Unfortunately for Mac users, it is only available for Windows.

Note to first time users : The ODF file opened by the addon is read-only OOX file. If you want to save it as ODF, you will need to make a copy of the document(“Menu>Save As”) and then use the “Export as ODF” menu.

3rd Step : OpenOffice.org

For those of you who have never heard of it, OpenOffice is basically the free version of Microsoft Office. You can download the program from this website, and you can open ODT files directly using this program.

It supports all common computers, so whether you are using Mac or Windows, you can always download and use it on your computer.

File size : 162MB for Mac, 144MB for Windows

4th : Convert File from .ODT format to .DOC format

Visit Google and search for ‘odt to doc converter’ and you will find a list of websites that can convert your files for free. Upload the document, insert your email address where the converted file will be sent to, and you can download it from your email inbox.