Despite what many firms and college lecturers would have you believe, Microsoft Word isn’t the only word processor that you may use to create, modify, and review papers. In this post, we discuss the top 8 best free alternatives to Microsoft Word and offer clear download instructions for each of them. Just be aware that only Alternatives to Microsoft Word gives comprehensive functionality for.doc and.docx files.
While most free alternatives to Microsoft Word aim to provide at least some type of compatibility with the word processing file format designed by Microsoft, only a handful succeed.
Top 8 Best Free Alternatives to Microsoft Word in 2022
To guarantee that your.doc and.docx documents will appear precisely the way you want them to, we recommend you convert them to.pdf before distributing them to coworkers, possible employers, and professors. There are numerous free alternatives to Microsoft Word. I’m sure you don’t develop business plans with charts and graphs. You don’t utilize online collaboration tools. You don’t arrange meetings for a group of directors. I wonder if you would ever need to produce business presentations with 100 slides.
Free alternatives to Microsoft Word You have many alternatives
- Nowadays, you have so many possibilities.
- You may download free word processor software, or you can use web-based and cloud-based apps.
- All you need is a blank document.
- Then write your words.
- Add a little formatting and save your work.
- Almost any free-version word processor can accomplish this.
- Changing word processors is also a terrific way to view your work from a different perspective.
- Do you want to shift away from using Word? Try any of these free Alternatives to Microsoft Word to discover whether one is exactly suited for you and your writing needs.
- To get you started, here are seven free word processors to select from.
1. Apple Pages
Pages is a free word processor developed by Apple. It’s part of the iWork productivity package, which also includes Keynote, a presentation tool, and the spreadsheet application Numbers. While Pages can’t equal Microsoft Word in terms of capability, it surely outshines Microsoft’s word processor when it comes to usability and appearance. Things that take several clicks in Word need no effort at all with Pages, which is why so many users swear by this easy-to-use tool when it comes to writing everything from letters to resumes to posters to school reports.
How to download Apple Pages:
- Visit the Mac App Store.
- Search for “Pages.”
- Download the application.
2. Google Docs
Google Docs is part of Google’s web-based software office suite under its Google Drive service. Despite its web-based nature, Google Docs is also accessible as a mobile and Google Chrome app. Google Docs enables collaborative document editing, machine learning-enhanced search capabilities, and support for third-party add-ons, just to mention a few fascinating features. Google Docs can certainly open.doc and.docx documents very successfully, but you might expect to encounter a few graphic problems here and there. When used in combination with the Google Docs Offline Chrome extension, Google Docs offers offline document reading and editing.
How to download Google Docs on Android:
- Visit the Google Play Store.
- Search for “Google Docs.”
- Click the “Install” button.
3. LibreOffice
LibreOffice is a free and open-source alternative to Microsoft Office that was originally published in 2011 as a fork of OpenOffice.org. It includes various apps for document editing, spreadsheets, presentations, vector graphics, writing and manipulating mathematical calculations, and database administration. The one programme that should be of considerable interest to all Microsoft Word users is called Writer. Much like Microsoft Word, Writer is a word processor with significant WYSIWYG word processing features, and is capable of opening and storing documents in a number of formats, including.odt,.doc,.docx,.rtf, and.xhtml.
How to get LibreOffice:
- Visit the following website: https://www.libreoffice.org/.
- Click the “Download” option in the top menu.
- Select “Download LibreOffice.”
- Choose the version for your operating system.
- Click the “Download” button one last time.
4. WPS Office
WPS Office is a robust office suite created by Zhuhai-based Chinese software firm Kingsoft. It comprises Writer, Presentation, and Spreadsheets, plus PDF utilities to suit all of your document needs. Out of all the free alternatives to Microsoft Word mentioned in this article, WPS Office has arguably the best support for.doc and.docx files, which is why we wholeheartedly recommend it to students who would like to avoid paying a monthly subscription fee for Microsoft Word but would still like to open and edit documents in Microsoft’s file formats. WPS Office is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, and Russian.
How to download WPS Office:
- Visit the following website: https://www.wps.com/.
- Click the “Download” option in the top menu.
- Select “WPS Office 2016 Free.”
- Click the “Download” button.
5. Notepad++
Notepad++ is a basic text editor that, just as its name indicates, presents itself as an alternative to Notepad. However, because Notepad++ enables tabbed editing for working with numerous files in a single window, many people choose to use it for composing initial draughts and proofreading. Notepad++ offers numerous more features that lift it above typical text editors and put it in a league of its own, including autosave, locating and replacing strings of text with regular expressions, line bookmarking, macros, and support for plugins. At the moment, there are more than 140 plugins for Notepad++, and new ones are launched every month.
How to get Notepad++:
- Visit the following website: https://notepad-plus-plus.org/.
- Click the “Download” button situated on the left sidebar.
- Select the version for your operating system and architecture.
6. AbiWord
AbiWord is a free word processing software for Linux. It shares many similarities with Microsoft Word, including support for fundamental word processing capabilities such as lists, indents, and character types, as well as more complex features such as grammar checking, page columns, multiple views, and templates. AbiWord used to be available for Windows, but the developers have chosen to withdraw support for the Windows version owing to a widespread lack of interest in it.
How to download AbiWord:
- Visit the following website: https://www.abisource.com/.
- Click the “Download AbiWord” link.
- Select the version for your operating system.
7. Scrivener
Scrivener is a unique word-processing tool used by authors, screenwriters, and people in academia. It was created from scratch to ease idea collection and organization. At the core of Scrivener is a simple ring-binder metaphor that lets you divide your content into digestible chunks and sew them together as you see fit. This may not seem relevant if you infrequently work on any longer pieces of writing, but it’s vitally crucial when working on a long text.
Scrivener is available for macOS, Linux, and Windows, although only the macOS version gets first-class support. The Windows and Linux versions are substantially behind. While you can use Scrivener for free for up to 30 days—enough time to write anything from a school essay to a novella—once the trial period expires, you will be forced to purchase the full version of the application.
How to download Scrivener:
- Visit the following website: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scriben/overview.
- Click the “Download” button situated in the top-right corner.
- Select the version for your operating system.
8. Zoho Writer
Zoho Writer is a wonderful free alternative to Word. It is packed with a lot of features. You can sync between your PC or Mac, iPhone, Android, or iPad. Almost anything you do in Word, you can accomplish with this word processor. There are even cooperation tools. It also offers Zia, a writing assistant, to aid with contextual grammar, readability, and style suggestions. You may import your existing Word documents and begin to work. There is also a plugin to integrate your Zoho papers into Word. It’s not a bad price at all for a free online writing tool.
Fist words
No, you don’t need to spend a dime on a trustworthy and fully working word processor. There are a number of free Alternatives to Microsoft Word. Alternatives to Microsoft Word of the programs listed above are whole office suites. So you get a bonus with all the extras that come with them. You surely have a lot to pick from. So make your selections and save yourself some money.
