Hi All,
Anyone have advice on a macro which will batch convert old Microsoft word documents (.doc) to current (.docx). format?
Many thanks!
You can do this via AppleScript:
set theOutputPath to (path to desktop folder as string) & "My Saved Document.docx"
tell application "Microsoft Word"
-- use format document97 to save as .doc
save as active document file name theOutputPath file format format document
end tell
Or with an Automator workflow:
In both cases you will have to add a mechanism to open all .doc documents in a certain folder. I leave this to the experts.
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Hey Marc,
How many files are you dealing with?
It may be worth your while to spend money on a conversion utility like Batch Docx Converter.
I haven’t used this critter, but if I was dealing with hundreds or thousands of files I’d happily pay the 20 bucks if it worked well.
As for @ALYB’s suggestion – it’s definitely viable – see this thread:
Solved: Options in automating batch conversion of Word.doc to PDFs
Give us some more information about your needs, so we can more appropriately discern how to help you.
-Chris
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Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I have about 50 files in .doc format I’m looking to update to the new .docx format
Thanks for the prompt reply! I will look at these solutions. Much appreciated!
Marc
Hey Marc,
Oh, well. If it's that few then the AppleScripted solution should be no problem.
I've altered the script I pointed out earlier to convert from .doc to .docx format.
Word Documents .doc to .docx Converter.app.zip (63.1 KB)
Download and unzip it. Then Right-Click on it and select [Open].
Since the file is an AppleScript droplet the resulting dialog will say it's from an unidentified developer for security reasons, but since I'm the author I'm not really unidentified. 
You can safely click the [Open] button in the dialog.
You can see the source code yourself by dropping the applet onto the Script Editor.app – it's basic enough that anyone who's just a little techie can understand the gist of it.
To use the script just drag and drop one or more .doc files onto the droplet.
The original files will be left in place.
The new .docx files will be created in the same directory as the original, although that can be changed if it matters.
-Chris
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Thank you very much Chris!
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