I had WPS Office 2019 installed in my computer. Recently, I installed Microsoft Office 2019 and uninstalled WPS. The problem is that the icons for Office-related documents (docx, xlsx, pptx) are still the WPS Office icons. See for yourself; So I wondered WPS was set to be the default software to open these files. A WPS file is a word processing document created in Microsoft Works. WPS files can be opened using Microsoft Word on Windows computers, a third-party WPS viewer on Mac OS X, or with an online file converter or file viewer website.
Dec 21, 2020 • Filed to: Recover & Repair Files • Proven solutions
Time and again, we come across the WPS file while working on the Windows Operating System. However, not many of us are aware of what these files really are. There are many users who have associated themselves with the Windows Operating System for long without caring to garner any knowledge about the WPS file. In the given article, we shall discuss all the possible methods that can prove to be useful when it comes to accessing a WPS file in Microsoft Word. For the ones who are lacking knowledge about the WPS file, we shall first try and understand what the WPS file really is. Following this, we shall list out the methodologies that can prove to be useful when it comes to opening the WPS file in Microsoft Word.
Part 1 What is the WPS File?
To begin with, one needs to understand that the WPS file format is quite similar to the DOC format. However, while being a text document, it is created with the Microsoft Works Word Processor and doesn’t come with the advanced formatting options and macros that are otherwise included in the Word document. Users should note that while most versions of Microsoft Word can open a WPS file along with Microsoft Publisher, but the format has been discontinued since 2006, and further replaced with the standard MS Word DOC format.
So, what is the use of the WPS file then? Users must note that the WPS file format is used by Microsoft Works Word Processor Files. The files with the WPS extension contain word processing documents that have been created by the Microsoft Works software suite. While containing richly formatted text along with images, the WPS file format also includes clipart and tables. There is the inclusion of a C++ library, which is called ‘libwps’ and it allows reading and writing of WPS documents. The library also allows for the functioning of applications that include ‘OxygenOffice’ and ‘NeoOffice’ that allow for the opening and editing of a WPS file.
Part 2 How do I open the WPS File in Word?
For the users looking to access their WPS file in Word, the methodologies have been discussed in this section. In order to assist users, Microsoft offers a free file which is named as ‘WorksConv.exe’ and is compatible with Microsoft Word 2000 and later variants. This helps you access all the WPS file formats, which Microsoft Works 6.0-9.0 documents. For the ones who are looking to access a primitive version of the WPS file, which could include a WPS file that has been created with Microsoft Works 4.0 or 4.5, there is another free file being offered by Microsoft called the ‘Wks4Converter_en-US.msi’ file which has ease of compatibility with Microsoft Word 2000 or later.
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We recommend that users install both the above-listed files if they are looking to open a WPS file in Microsoft Word. However, an additional note for our users is that Microsoft Word 2013 is capable of opening Microsoft Works 6.0 to 9.0. However, the default feature in Word 2013 doesn’t mean that one doesn’t have to download and install the ‘Wks4Converter_en_US.msi’ file, especially if they are looking to open Microsoft Works 4.0 or 4.5 documents.
So, here are the steps to access a WPS file in Word:
1) Ensure that above-listed files have been downloaded;
2) Start the process by closing all the Microsoft Word Windows that were previously opened;
3) You are now required to double-click the ‘WorksConv.exe’ file and follow the prompts in order to complete the installation. Similarly, double-tap the ‘Wks4Converter_en-US.msi’ file, and following its prompts, complete its installation too.
4) Once both the files have been downloaded with the help of prompts, you can open Microsoft Word in order to open the WPS file.
5) Once you are within the MS-Word interface, tap ‘File’, and then tap on ‘Open’. If you do not come across a File Menu, click the Microsoft Office button that appears in the top left of the Word Window, and then tap on Open.
6) Please note that the users working on Word 2013 are required to select ‘Computer’, followed by ‘Browse’ after starting by clicking on the ‘Open’ option.
7) Once you have accessed the Open Window, within the ‘File of Type’ drop-down menu, or the unlabeled drop-down menu that appears next to the File name text field, you should come across multiple options; ‘Works 4.x (.wps), ‘Works 6-9 Document (.wps), or ‘Works 6.0 (.wps).
8) Users are then required to choose the file version which they are trying to open in Word. For the ones who aren’t really sure of the version of their WPS file, it’s best to go for the ‘Works 6-9 Document (.wps) option.
9 )The final step includes browsing to the location of the WPS file you are looking to open, selecting the file, and tapping the ‘Open’ button.
While users can successfully open the WPS file, there is also the option to save all the hassle by simply converting the opened WPS file into a Word File. The steps for the same have been listed below.
1) Once the WPS file has been opened and modified; simply click File and tap ‘Save As’. For the ones who do not come across a File Menu, you can tap the ‘Microsoft Office Button’ that appears in the top left of the Word Window, and then tap on ‘Save As’.
2) Once you have accessed the ‘Save As’ window, choose the location where you wish to save the file.
3) Rename the file as per your choice, and while saving the WPS file, make sure to select ‘Microsoft Word (.doc) format from the drop-down menu.
4) Tap on ‘OK’ or ‘Save’ when you are done with the saving.
Accessing a WPS file in Word is not difficult if one has the correct methodology to follow. Once the required files have been installed, you can repeatedly open your WPS file in Word without any hassle. However, if you are looking to open the WPS file in different locations or systems, we recommend that you go for the conversion of the WPS file to Word file using the above steps.
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Office productivity suites are every office’s primary and non-negotiable requirement. Resultingly, a great number of Software companies tried to create awesome office suites to capture this vast market but most of them failed in competition with Microsoft Office.
NOTE: If you are looking for a quick advice, Go straight to VERDICT at the end of the article.
WPS Office, on the other hand, isn’t among those suites. WPS Office has been in the market since 1988 but only took a solid stand in 2000. WPS Office comes loaded with features to simplify your daily office activities. In this WPS Office review, we will dig deeper into each and every aspect of this software and evaluate how good WPS Office really is and if it is a worthy Microsoft Office Alternative.
Before we dive into it, here is a small guide to help you choose a suitable office suite for yourself.
Evaluating WPS Office:
1. Pricing:
| Pricing is our first basis of evaluation for WPS Office. In this part of WPS Office review, we will be looking at the price at which the WPS Office is offered and will also compare it with its worthy counterpart. WPS Office is available in three different packages: WPS Free (Windows, Android, iOS, MacOS, and Linux) WPS License (Windows Only): $89.25 for Lifetime WPS Premium (Windows, Android, iOS, or MacOS): 1 Year: $29.99 (1 Person) 6 Months: $18.99 (1 Person) 1 Year: $39.99 (5 Persons) Note: Offers a 7-Day Free Trial. To compare if WPS Office is worth the price, let’s compare it with it biggest competitor, Microsoft Office. Microsoft Office also comes in multiple variants. Microsoft Office Free (For Android only) Microsoft Office Lifetime License (Windows, MacOS) Microsoft Office Home & Student: $149.99 Microsoft Office Professional: $499.99 Microsoft Office Subscription (Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android) Microsoft 365 Personal: $69.99/year (1 Person) Microsoft 365 Family: $99.99/year (Up to 6 Persons) |
Note: There are a few other business plans offered by Microsoft Office and of course they are a bit steep in price. To check them out, click: Microsoft Office Business
In the price evaluation above, we saw that WPS Office has a free version available for all the platforms be it Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android. On the other hand, Microsoft only has the free Office for Android mobiles. Here WPS Office seem to be ahead in the game.
While the yearly subscription of WPS Office comes at $29.99/year for 1 user, Microsoft Office 365 is priced at $69.99/year for 1 user. Though WPS Office is cheaper, if you want a family version for more than 1 person or device, WPS Office has a plan for 5 devices at just $39.99/year instead of $99.99/year for 6 persons in MS Office, the price difference is considerable.
In one time licensing, WPS Office is priced way cheaper than what Microsoft Office is priced at. Where one-time licensing of WPS Office is available at $89.99, Microsoft Office begins at $149.99 and goes to a whopping $499.99. (Features available with the Microsoft Office Home & Student are available in WPS Office Free Version)
Looking at the figures above, WPS Office is a really cheap and worthy solution for the price it is offered at. If you are an average user and want an Office suite to take you through your daily tasks, you don’t have to spend a dime on neither the WPS Office nor on anything else. Even if you are looking for an office suite for the whole family, WPS Office suite won’t disappoint you because Free x 5 = Free. Also, the family plan is $60 cheaper in WPS Office.
2. Tools and Features Offered by WPS Office:
In this section of WPS Office Review, we will evaluate the tools offered by WPS Office and are they enough to get you through.
| Free Version | WPS Premium | WPS License | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Word Processor | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Spreadsheet | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Presentation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDF Reader | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Edit Text in PDF | No | Yes | Yes |
| PDF to Word/Excel/PPT | No | Yes | Yes |
| Export PDF in Batch | No | Yes | Yes |
| Picture to PDF | No | Yes | Yes |
| Picture to Text (OCR) | No | No | Yes |
| File Split/File Merge | No | Yes | Yes |
| Cloud Storage | 1 GB | No | 20 GB |
| Insert/Extract Pages from PDF | No | Yes | Yes |
| Insert and Remove Watermark in PDF | No | Yes | Yes |
| Change PDF Page Order | No | Yes | Yes |
| Add Color or Picture in PDF | No | Yes | Yes |
| Files Repair | No | No | Yes |
| Automatic Document Backup | No | Yes | Yes |
| Price | FREE | $18.99 – $29.99 | $89.99 |
This is a pretty comprehensive list of what WPS Office has to offer. As you can see, WPS Office free version holds the capability to create Word Document, Spreadsheets, Presentation with amazing graphics, and a dedicated PDF Reader. (More than what Microsoft Office offers at $149.99)
WPS Writer, Spreadsheets, and Presentations have a familiar minimalistic design and layout which look polished and pleasing. These apps have all the options and functionality that a person writing a document, a letter, a blog, a person creating companies balance sheet, or preparing a school or office presentation would need. These apps feature fair amount of customization options similar to what would you get in their Microsoft counterparts.
There are a number of templates available which can be used to easily create Resumes, Write letters, create posters, brochures, checklists, project reports, invoices, annual reports, work reports, albums, infographics, etc. (WPS Office has a premium subscription named Templates that users have to subscribe to in order to gain access to these templates for the users who are professional designers and often design things for others or for blogs.)
But what kind of tool review would it be if we don’t compare the tools available with WPS Office with the tools available with its competitor.
Tools Offered by WPS Office vs Tools Offered by Microsoft Office
| wps office free | WPS Office license | WPS Premium | Ms office license | ms office 365 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| price | FREE | $89.99 for Lifetime | $29.99/Year | $149.99 | $69.99/year & $99.99/year |
| word processor | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Spreadsheets | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| presentations | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| pdf reader | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| pdf to word/xls/ppt | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Edit pdf text/sign pdf | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| cloud storage | 1 GB | No | 20 GB | No | 1 TB |
| extract text from word | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| file repair | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Mailing app | No | No | No | No | Outlook |
| Publishing | No | No | No | No | Publisher(PC Only) |
| Database management | No | No | No | No | Yes |
As can be seen in the table above, WPS Office has features which aren’t even available with the industry best office suites. Hence, if you are looking for a tool to replace your day to day word processor, spreadsheet creator, or presentation maker, you should definitely go with WPS Office Free version. Also, if you are an advanced user and require much more tools, WPS has a tons of different features to offer. As you may have noticed, the features offered by $149.99 Microsoft Office Licensed and $69.99/year Microsoft 365 are exactly similar to what WPS Office has to offer for FREE except that Office 365 comes with Outlook, Access, and Publisher. I think anyone would be glad to dump Outlook if you could save $69.99/year, I would.
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3. File Compatibility:
In WPS Office review, it’s time to check its compatibility with the files created on the other suites. I may sound like a WPS Office Fanboy, but when it comes to File Compatibility, WPS Office is second to none. WPS Office is compatible with files created on Microsoft Office, Google Suite, Adobe PDF, and Open Office.
Formats supported by WPS Office: doc, docx, dotm, docm, xls, xlsx, xlt, xltx, ppt, pptx, rtf, csv, xml, wpt, dot, dotx, et, ett, pot, dps, dpt, potx, ppsx, and pdf.
LibreOffice Suite supports even more file formats than what WPS Office supports. On the other hand, other competitors like Microsoft Office stand nowhere in file compatibility.
Hence, if you are looking for an Office Suite with wide range of compatiblity with other Office suites, WPS Office is a great tool to have as it supports most of the commonly used Office suites like MS Office, G-Suite, Open Office, and more.
4. User-Interface:
As we discussed earlier, the interface offered by WPS Office is heavily inspired by its famous counterpart. As a result, the learning curve isn’t too steep and new users would have an easy time getting a hold of WPS Office interface. The layout and the place where features are listed is fairly simple to access. The ribbon style is pretty familiar too.
Its competitors like LibreOffice have a bit outdated interface which may not be fun to use for many users. However, Microsoft office is the best in the game in this field and WPS Office can’t beat it either. But WPS Office’s interface is the closest you can get to MS Office’s interface.
To sum it up, User-Interface offered by WPS Office is second to none and the best you can get in this price and hence, user-interface shouldn’t be a concern to anyone thinking of buying WPS Office.
5. Collaboration:
Collaboration features haven’t gone unnoticed from WPS Office too. For Collaboration, WPS office features WPS Cloud and WPS Online document creator where you can simply head to the WPS website and login to create online document. Also, you can share the file in real-time to collaborate of any number of people you like to get the desired result.
Although the online suite doesn’t offer as much features and function as the offline suite, you can always download the file to your PC to customize it better after all, its free.
Competitors like Google Suite also offer a similar feature to create online documents and collaborate in real-time. However, Google Suite doesn’t have any option to download the file to PC to customize it for better because of the absence of any offline suite.
VERDICT:
In the end of our WPS Office review, by taking all the aspects of WPS Office into account, we can surely say that WPS Office is an amazing tool and is worth every penny you are charged for it i.e. if you go for the premium version. It isn’t just another Microsoft Office alternative but a worthy tool in itself. The clean and minimalistic design doesn’t fail to impress at any point in time. Users have the access to all the features they would require for free. Looking at the tools, file compatibility, User-interface, ease of collaboration, and pricing, I would suggest everyone to give it a try for a week or two if you are going to buy a complete suite anyways, the chances are you will like it. If you don’t, No regrets, you don’t lose a penny.
So, this was my WPS Office review. Do let us know how did you like WPS Office if you tried it, we love hearing from you.
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