A document saved on a computer is stored in a specific file format, which determines how the data is encoded and structured within the file. Common document file formats include:
- DOC and DOCX : Microsoft Word documents, with DOCX being the newer XML-based format that supports more features and better interoperability with other applications
- PDF (Portable Document Format) : A widely used format for read-only documents that preserve formatting across different devices and platforms
- RTF (Rich Text Format) : A format that allows text and basic formatting to be shared between different word processors and operating systems
- TXT (Plain Text) : A simple text file format without any formatting, often encoded in ASCII or UTF-8
- ODT (OpenDocument Text) : Used by open-source office suites like Apache OpenOffice and LibreOffice
- Other formats include templates (.dotx, .dotm), macro-enabled documents (.docm), and web page formats (.htm, .mht)
Each format serves different purposes, such as editing, sharing, or publishing, and is identified by a file extension like .docx, .pdf, .txt, etc. The format dictates how the document's content is saved and accessed by software
