Turning Off HTML Conversions

Word includes a feature that allows you to open HTML documents and have them appear on your screen as formatted text. For some people this is great, while others see it as a big bother. If you don't want your HTML documents formatted by Word, but instead want them opened as straight text, you have two general ways you can do this.

First, you can remove the HTML file filter used by Word. This is done by running the Word Setup program and then making sure the HTML filter is removed from the system. (You do this by making sure the option is explicitly NOT selected in the Setup program.)

This may or may not work, depending on the version of Word you are using. (The Setup program has undergone rather drastic changes from one version of the program to another.) A better and less drastic approach is by following these steps:

1. Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 and later versions display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
2. At the left side of the dialog box click Advanced.
3. Scroll through the options until you see the General section. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Advanced options of the Word Options dialog box.

4. Make sure the Confirm File Format Conversion On Open check box is selected.
5. Click on OK.

Now, whenever you open a document with an HTML (or HTM) extension, Word displays the Convert File dialog box. Here you are being asked how you want Word to treat the file you are opening. The HTML Document option is selected, since Word detected the file contained HTML code. You can select the Text Only option, and then Word will treat the file as plain text, without doing any formatting.

You should note that the procedure just described only works if you use the Open dialog box to open your file. If you later use the MRU file list to open the file, or the Documents list from Windows, then Word doesn't ask you how it should do the file conversion—it straightaway opens the file as a formatted HTML document. If you do quite a bit of this type of file opening, then your best option is to remove the HTML file filter as first described in this tip.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6275) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Turning Off HTML Conversions.