[Solved] Convert Word docs to ODT at once

[Oldsecretary]

I just downloaded OO 4.1.15 so I could get rid of MS Office, for which there is an upcoming renewal to use it for $130. This is a subscription set up in 2021 on the HP Windows 10 laptop when purchasing it. I did not realize there would be an annual fee, which has been $99 until now. I want to uninstall 365 but have an important genealogy Word project that is 3.65 GB of 306 Folders holding 4,411 Files! Many pages of photos and text need to be accessible for family and life changes. I made flashdrives for distribution.D

Does each Word individual file need to be reformatted from .docx to .odt? What an ordeal, and so is it possible to select many files at once for the reformat? I do hope there is a way! THANKS so much,
Sharon

[FJCC]

There is a wizard for documents conversion: File -> Wizards -> Document conversion. You can choose the type of file, the source directory, and where to store the converted documents. I've never used that, so I can't say exactly how it works. Be sure to have backup copies of the files!

[keme]

+1 to what FJCC said.

Also, if your project is shared with family, the change of platform may be disruptive for others. The wizard will create new files and keep the old ones. There may be significant structural change to your files, which may not be initially apparent. This will require a lot of work if you have linked content between your files.

A better solution may be to use LibreOffice, keep your old files and have new files created in odt format.

There is little difference between the suites. Notably:
- LibreOffice can save to Microsoft format.
- I find that OpenOffice is more stable/predictable than LibreOffice in some (rather specialised) areas.

Note that I reported the question. It was posted in a section for tutorials where "no questions please" is explicitly stated. It may be moved somewhere else by moderator/admin. Hopefully you will be notified.

[LastUnicorn]

There are several good reasons for preferring LibreOffice over OpenOffice anyway, some of which are mentioned here: [Tutorial] Considering a Switch from OpenOffice to LibreOffice? Some Useful Information

[Hagar Delest]

If you share the content, you should export the files to PDF so that the reader does not bother about the file format.
Even with LO, .docx may give some glitches since MS Office does not use the ISO flavor of its own file format (welcome to the vendor lock-in policy).
Thus, if you make the move, better use ODF afterward (.odt). Maybe LO will do better to import the files from docx but to be confirmed. You can try both with portable versions and decide after having compared the features you need.

Please add [Solved] at the beginning of the title in your first post (top of the topic) with the ✎ button if your issue has been fixed.

[JeJe]

You can use the free online version of Office without paying the subscription.

[Jan_J]

LibreOffice has command line option for massive conversion to specified format.
soffice --convert-to filtername files
e.g.
soffice --convert-to odt *.docx
should create ODT copies of all .docx documents found in the current folder.

To make this you should have some, but minimal, skills in text command line syntax.
Also, it may be necessary to point qualified path to soffice.

As I remember, similar option in OpenOffice exist(ed) and was named -convert-to