How to Open a Corrupt Microsoft Word Document

1. Use WordPad (which is found under the 'Accessories' tab) to open the document. Open the program and select the corrupted file. Then go to the 'Save as' area and select '.rtf' as the file format. Then try to re-open in Microsoft Word.
2. Open a blank Word document, then open the 'Insert' menu and select 'File' (in Word 2007, go to 'Object,' then 'Text from File'). Select the corrupted file and then press the 'OK' button ('Insert' in Word 2007). The document should then insert itself into the new blank document.
3. Launch Microsoft Word and then press the 'Open' button. Instead of selecting your file, go to the bottom and select 'Open any file' (or 'Recover Text From Any File' in Word 2007) and then select your corrupted document.
4. Use another program to open it. If you have an alternative word processing program, like Word Perfect or Open Office Writer installed on your computer, try opening the corrupted file in those programs.