How can I convert docx to doc using Python?

Question

How can I convert file.docx to file.doc using Python? I have a code that outputs a file in docx format, but this program is for someone who can only use Word 2003, so I need to convert that file to.doc using Python. How can I do it? Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

Bit clunky, but you could use pywinauto to programatically open your.docx documents in word, then save-as.doc. It'd be using word to do the conversion, so it should be as clean as you could get.

This is a snippet of what I've used for converting to pdf within word (it was just a test). You'd have to follow the keystrokes necessary to save as a.doc

import pywinauto
from pywinauto.application import Application


app1 = Application(backend="uia").connect(path="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Office\\root\\Office16\\WINWORD.EXE")
wordhndl = app1.top_window()


wordhndl.type_keys('^o')
wordhndl.type_keys('%f')
wordhndl.type_keys('^o')
wordhndl.type_keys('^o')

#Now that we're in a sub-window, using the top_window() handle doesn't work...
#Instead refer to absolute (using friendly_class_name())
app1.Dialog.Open.type_keys("Y:\\996.Software\\04.Python\\Test\\SampleDoc1.docx")
app1.Dialog.Open.type_keys('~')


#Publish it to pdf
app1.SampleDoc1docx.type_keys('%f')
app1.SampleDoc1docx.type_keys('e')
app1.SampleDoc1docx.type_keys('p')
app1.SampleDoc1docx.type_keys('a')
app1.SampleDoc1docx.PublishasPDForXPS.Publish.type_keys('~')


#Deal with popups & prompts
if app1.Dialog.PublishasPDForXPS.ConfirmSaveAs.exists():
    app1.Dialog.PublishasPDForXPS.ConfirmSaveAs.Yes.click()  #This line can take some time...

I think the.doc keystrokes would be (not tested)

app1.SampleDoc1docx.type_keys('%f')
app1.SampleDoc1docx.type_keys('a')
app1.SampleDoc1docx.type_keys('y')
app1.SampleDoc1docx.type_keys('4')
app1.SampleDoc1docx.type_keys('{DOWN}')
app1.SampleDoc1docx.type_keys('{DOWN}')
app1.SampleDoc1docx.type_keys('~')
app1.SampleDoc1docx.type_keys('{RIGHT}')
app1.SampleDoc1docx.type_keys('~')

But... the better solution is to use word. I've used VBA within word to do this exact thing before. Don't have the code to hand, but a good pointer would be: https://www.datanumen.com/blogs/3-quick-ways-to-batch-convert-word-doc-to-docx-files-and-vice-versa/

Answer 2

you can do something of the likes of:

import docx

doc = docx.Document("myWordxFile.docx")
doc.save('myNewWordFile.doc')

check this too. Good luck!