Word Program For Mac At App Store

Windows has a few good word processors available, but when it comes to the majority of users, the free LibreOffice should serve any word processing needs you have.

Pages is a powerful word processor that lets you create stunning documents. You can even use Apple Pencil on your iPad to add comments and illustrations by hand. And with real-time collaboration, your team can work together, whether they’re on Mac, iPad, or iPhone, or using a PC.

  • With Pages, Numbers, and Keynote for iCloud, you and your team can access and edit all your documents in a Mac or PC web browser. Just sign in to iCloud.com, open the web app, and start working. Whether your collaborators are across town or on the other side of the world, it’s amazingly productive.
  • Write with confidence, knowing intelligent technology can help with spelling, grammar and even stylistic writing suggestions. With tools at your fingertips, easily go from pen and paper to digital inking and edit intuitively.
Word Program For Mac At App Store

LibreOffice Writer

Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux
Price: Free
Download Page

Features

Microsoft Word For Mac

  • A familiar interface for anyone that's used a word processor, featuring basic formatting like font, bold/underline/italics, tables, bulleted lists, and more
  • Compatible with all major file formats, such as Microsoft Word DOC and DOCX, RTF, ODT, and more
  • While-you-type auto-completion, auto-formatting, and automatic spell checking
  • Easily move toolbars around and tweak the interface to your liking
  • Tons of advanced options that let you customize how LibreOffice works

Where It Excels

LibreOffice's biggest advantage, of course, is that it's completely free. While lots of office suites like Microsoft Office are advanced, they also cost a lot of money. LibreOffice does a great job of being a Microsoft Word 'clone' without the $120 price tag. Anyone who has used Word can immediately jump into LibreOffice and should be able to find everything pretty easily—all the toolbars look pretty similar, the menus are familiar, and it can read and edit Office documents like a champ without causing any formatting issues in Word. When it comes to word processing, LibreOffice Writer has everything most users could ever need, and at an impossible-to-beat price.

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Where It Falls Short

LibreOffice is slow. I mean really slow. Starting it up for the first time on my laptop (which, for what it's worth, has a super fast SSD in it) still takes a good 20 seconds. Once you get into it, it isn't so bad, but that startup time can be pretty annoying. The interface also isn't the prettiest, and the menus can be a bit more confusing at times, especially if you delve into its deeper options (though the options inside are plentiful). Writer also doesn't have some of the smaller, more convenient features that Word has, like a word counter at the bottom of the window, which can throw some people off who are more advanced word processors.

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The Competition

Microsoft Word is the most obvious competitor to LibreOffice. As I said above, Word is a bit more polished and has a few smaller features that, if you've become reliant on them, will throw you off in LibreOffice. If all you're doing is word processing (that is, you don't use spreadsheets or create presentations) Microsoft Office isn't really worth the $120 price tag—but if you have the money to blow and you just need those Word-specific features, Word is obviously where you'll have to get them. In addition, if you are a student (or somehow have access to student discounts), you can get it for a lot cheaper, where it becomes much more worth the cost. For a bigger explanation of the differences between Microsoft Office and LibreOffice, check out our comparison.

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WordPad is a simple word processor that comes free with Windows. It solves LibreOffice's biggest problem—slowness—since it's so lightweight and fast. However, that light weight comes at a big price in features. WordPad is extremely simple, almost to the point where I'm hesitant to call it a word processor. It can do basic text editing and formatting, but if you're looking to add a header to your pages, use a template, or even check your spelling, WordPad won't be able to help you. If you need something quick and simple, though, WordPad is a great alternative.

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Google Docs is also a bit simpler than most people might like, but it has some incredible collaboration features that make it perfect for working with other people on a document. Plus, you can access your documents from anywhere, no Dropbox-like file syncing program required, which is fantastic if you jump from computer to computer.

Lastly, if you're looking for a distraction-free writing tool, the free Q10 does a good job of making you focus without skimping on word processing features. It's more geared toward writers, so it has the advanced features they'd want—like word counts, page counts, a spell checker, an alarm, and stuff like that—but it doesn't have a lot of the extra formatting tools you'll find in a normal word processor. This is our 'left field' pick for word processor, since it isn't a word processor in the strictly traditional sense—but it's worth a look if that's what you're using word processors for.

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There certainly other good word processors out there, but these are our go-to picks. If you have a favorite we didn't mention, share it with us in the comments.

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Lifehacker's App Directory is a new and growing directory of recommendations for the best applications and tools in a number of given categories.

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Last updated: April, 2019

Word for Mac crashes and slow performance

Problems launching Word for Mac 2016 (Version 16.11) [FIXED]Last Updated: April 20, 2018

Issues affecting Word for Mac features and add-ins

Issues with fonts in Office for macOS [WORKAROUND]

ISSUE

Users may see issues with fonts when using version 16.9 of Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, OneNote and Microsoft PowerPoint on macOS.

Symptoms:

  • Text appears garbled or in a different font

  • Fonts not appearing in font picker

STATUS: WORKAROUND

We recommend you check the installed versions of the font. If you have multiple versions, then make sure the latest version of the font is active.

Free Word Programs For Mac

For more information, read about how to fix Issues with fonts in Office for macOS

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Mac App Store

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Word Program For Mac

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