What Is a WPS File?
Most files with the WPS file extension are either Microsoft Works documents or WPS Writer documents. The Works document file format was discontinued by Microsoft in 2006 when it was replaced by Microsoft’s DOC format. The two are similar in that they support rich text, tables, and images, but the WPS format lacks some of the more advanced formatting features supported with DOC. Another program that uses this same file extension is Translator’s Workbench, but instead of as a document file, it’s used as a project settings file.
How to Open a WPS File
Since most WPS files you’ll find were probably created with Microsoft Works, they can certainly be opened by that program. However, given that it’s been discontinued, it might be difficult to obtain a copy of the software. Fortunately, WPS files can also be opened with any of the latest versions of Microsoft Word. In Word 2003 or newer, choose the “Works” file type when browsing for the file. The free AbiWord word processor also opens WPS files, at least those created with certain versions of Works. LibreOffice Writer and OpenOffice Writer are two more free programs that can open WPS files. If you’re having trouble opening the file with any of these methods, it might instead be a WPS Writer document, which also utilizes this extension. You can open one of those with the WPS Office Writer software. WPS Cloud is an online version of this office suite that can open the file online. Microsoft’s Word Viewer is another option if you just need to view the WPS and not actually edit it. This free tool works for other documents, too, like DOC, DOT, RTF, and XML. You might have luck using Trados Studio to open Translator’s Workbench project files.
How to Convert a WPS File
There are two ways to convert a WPS file. You can either open it in one of the supported programs listed above and then save it to another format, or you can use a dedicated file converter to convert the WPS to another document format. For example, WPS Office Writer lets you convert the document to DOC, DOCX, PDF, XML, WPT, HTML, and other similar document formats. If someone sent you a document in this format or if you’ve downloaded one from the internet, and you don’t want to install one of the programs that support the format, we highly recommend using Zamzar or CloudConvert. These are just two examples of free online converters that support saving the file to Word formats, ODT, PDF, TXT, and others. With those two converters, you just have to upload the file to the website and then pick the format you want to convert it to. Then, download the converted document back to your computer to use it.
Still Can’t Open It?
Lots of files share the same extension letters. This makes mixing up formats really easy since, at first glance, similar extensions make the files appear to be related in format. Unfortunately, this usually isn’t true, and it leads to errors when a program tries to open an incompatible format. Some examples of file extensions that are easily mistaken for WPS include WPD, PWS (Painter Workspace), PSW (Windows Password Reset Disk), WPP (WebPlus Project), and VPS (Virtual CD Copy Template).
