Convert Word Document Template (.dot) to Microsoft Word Document (.doc) online for free. Fast, secure document conversion with no watermarks or registration.
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Click Convert and download your .doc file when it's ready.
DOT is the legacy Microsoft Word template format used in Word 97 through Word 2003. DOT files contain boilerplate text, styles, formatting, macros, and page settings that serve as the basis for creating new documents. When a user creates a new document from a DOT template in older versions of Word, the template content is copied into a fresh DOC file. DOC is the standard Word binary document format for the same era.
Converting DOT to DOC effectively transforms a template into a regular document. This is useful when you need to edit the template content directly as a standalone document rather than using it to spawn new files, or when you need to share the template's content with someone as an ordinary Word document.
DOT files behave differently than DOC files when opened in Word — double-clicking a DOT file typically creates a new document based on the template rather than opening the template itself for editing. Converting to DOC removes this template behavior and produces a standard document that opens normally for direct editing.
Many modern applications and document management systems do not recognize the DOT extension. Email systems may strip DOT attachments, and SharePoint libraries may not index them. Converting to DOC ensures the content is accessible in any Word-compatible environment without special handling for the template format.
LibreOffice opens the DOT file using its Word binary import filter, which parses the OLE2 compound document structure including the template-specific properties, style definitions, macro storage, and document content. The file is resaved as a standard DOC binary document with the template flag cleared. All content — text, styles, formatting, images, headers, footers — transfers directly since both formats share the same OLE2 binary structure. The only change is the file type designation from template to document.
The conversion is effectively lossless for document content because DOT and DOC share the same internal binary format. Text, formatting, styles, images, tables, headers, footers, and page layout are all preserved identically. Custom styles defined in the template carry over to the DOC as document-level styles. The template's auto-text entries and macro assignments are the only elements that may not transfer in the same way, since they are template-specific behaviors.
| Device | DOT | DOC |
|---|---|---|
| Windows PC | Partial | Partial |
| macOS | Partial | Partial |
| iPhone/iPad | Partial | Partial |
| Android | Partial | Partial |
| Linux | Partial | Partial |
| Web Browser | No |
DOT-to-DOC conversion transforms a Word template into a standard document, removing template-specific behaviors while preserving all content and formatting for direct editing and sharing.
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Works Everywhere
| No |
Any browser, any device
| Feature | DOT | DOC |
|---|---|---|
| Full Name | Word Template | Microsoft Word 97-2003 |
| Extension | .dot | .doc |
| Best For | Word template | Legacy support |