Updated: 2009-01-15

Microsoft Office Excel 2007, Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007, and Microsoft Office Word 2007 have new file types and extensions based on the new XML file formats in the 2007 Microsoft Office system. The new file name extensions are based on the previous extensions, with the addition of a character to differentiate between macro-enabled and macro-free files. For example, a .docx extension indicates a macro-free file, and a .docm extension indicates a macro-enabled file.

Note:
You can use the file name extensions for previous versions of Office applications (such as .xls, .ppt, and .doc) when you save files that will be used in earlier versions of Office.

The following table lists the file name extensions used by the 2007 Office system applications.

Application	Office file type	Extension	Description
Office Word 2007	Office Word 2007 XML document	.docx	The default Office Word 2007 file format. Cannot store VBA macro code.
Office Word 2007	Office Word 2007 XML macro-enabled document	.docm	Uses the same basic XML format as the Office Word 2007 XML document format, but can store VBA macro code. This file type is created when VBA macro code is present in the file.
Office Word 2007	Office Word 2007 XML template	.dotx	The default format for a Word template. Created when document styles and formatting are saved. Cannot store VBA macro code.
Office Word 2007	Office Word 2007 XML macro-enabled template	.dotm	Stores macro code for use with other Word documents. Does not always contain macro code, but is configured to support macro code storage. Word documents created from a macro-enabled template do not inherit the VBAProject part of the template. By default, documents are saved as .docx files even when they are created from a Office Word 2007 XML macro-enabled template.
Office Excel 2007	Office Excel 2007 XML workbook	.xlsx	The default Office Excel 2007 file format. Cannot store VBA macro code or Microsoft Excel 4.0 macro sheets (.xlm files in Excel 4.0).
Office Excel 2007	Office Excel 2007 XML macro-enabled workbook	.xlsm	Uses the same basic XML format as the Office Excel 2007 XML Workbook, but can store VBA macro code. Users saving an Office Excel 2007 XML workbook that has VBA code or Excel 4.0 macro sheets (.xlm files in Excel 4.0) are prompted to use this file format.
Office Excel 2007	Office Excel 2007 XML template	.xltx	The default file format for an Excel template. Cannot store VBA macro code or Excel 4.0 macro sheets (.xlm files in Excel 4.0).
Office Excel 2007	Office Excel 2007 XML macro-enabled template	.xltm	Can contain a VBAProject part or Excel 4.0 macro sheets (.xlm files in Excel 4.0). Workbooks created from this template inherit the VBAProject part or Excel 4.0 macro sheets that exist in the template.
Office Excel 2007	Office Excel 2007 binary workbook (BIFF12)	.xlsb	A fast load-and-save file format for users who need the fastest way possible to load a data file. Supports the use of VBA projects, Excel 4.0 macro sheets, and all the new features used in Office Excel 2007. However, this is not an XML file format, and therefore is not optimal for accessing and manipulating content without the use of Office Excel 2007 and the object model. Also, it does not use ZIP compression and is subject to the same security concerns as the previous Excel BIFF8 binary file format.
Office Excel 2007	Office Excel 2007 XML macro-enabled add-in	.xlam	A supplemental program designed to run additional code. Excel add-ins use the new XML file format to store data. Excel XML add-ins support the use of VBA projects and Excel 4.0 macro sheets.
Office PowerPoint 2007	Office PowerPoint 2007 XML presentation	.pptx	The default PowerPoint XML format. Cannot contain a VBAProject part (the part that stores VBA macro code) or Action settings.
Office PowerPoint 2007	Office PowerPoint 2007 macro-enabled XML presentation	.pptm	The same basic XML format as the Office PowerPoint 2007 XML presentation format, but can store VBA macro code. Users saving a Office PowerPoint 2007 XML presentation file that contains VBA macro code are prompted to use this file type.
Office PowerPoint 2007	Office PowerPoint 2007 XML template	.potx	An XML-based PowerPoint template. Created when a presentation does not have a VBAProject and does not use Action settings.
Office PowerPoint 2007	Office PowerPoint 2007 macro-enabled XML template	.potm	Users saving a Office PowerPoint 2007 XML template that contains VBA macro code are prompted to use this file type. Presentations created from this template do not inherit the VBA project or Action settings.
Office PowerPoint 2007	Office PowerPoint 2007 macro-enabled XML add-in	.ppam	An XML-based PowerPoint presentation designed to be executed as a supplemental program. All PowerPoint add-ins are macro-enabled.
Office PowerPoint 2007	Office PowerPoint 2007 XML show	.ppsx	An XML-based PowerPoint auto-running slide show. Cannot contain a VBAProject part.
Office PowerPoint 2007	Office PowerPoint 2007 macro-enabled XML show	.ppsm	An XML-based PowerPoint slide show file that contains a VBAProject part. Created when the auto-running slide show includes VBA macro code.

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Technical reference for the 2007 Office release

See the full list of available books at Downloadable content for the 2007 Office Resource Kit .