MS-DOS with Line Breaks Format in Word 2002 and Word 2003

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 1, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2002 and 2003

When you save a document, Word normally saves it in Word format, meaning that all the formatting and objects your document contains are saved, as is. Word also allows you to save your files in a number of other formats, however. One format that has long been available in word is "MS-DOS with Line Breaks." This format seems to be missing from Word 2002 and Word 2003, however.

Never fear--a file format by that particular name may no longer be available in the Save As Type drop-down list, but the functionality is still built in. Follow these steps:

Create your document as you normally would.
Choose Save (or Save As) from the File menu. Word displays the Save (or Save As) dialog box.
Using the Save As Type drop-down list, choose Plain Text (*.txt).
In the File Name box, specify the name you want to use for the saved document.
Click on Save. Word displays the File Conversion dialog box.
For Text Encoding, choose MS-DOS.
Make sure the Insert Line Breaks check box is selected.
Click on OK.

That's it; you have now created a text file that is the same as the older MS-DOS with Line Breaks format.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1659) applies to Microsoft Word 2002 and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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