why went using word for macbook (Verison 16.109) the compare is not working. No word file can be accessed. how to fits

In Word for Mac, files can appear greyed out in the Compare dialog when Word cannot open that file type or the file is blocked/unsupported in the current version.

Try the following steps:

1. Confirm the documents are in a supported Word format
   • Ensure both documents are .docx (or .doc) Word files stored locally (e.g., in Documents or Desktop), not in formats like .odt or other non-Word types.
   • If the files are in an older or different format (such as OpenDocument), first open them in Word and save each one as Word Document (.docx) using File > Save As.
2. Install the latest Office updates
   • Open any Office app on the Mac.
   • On the Help menu, select Check for Updates.
   • In the updates window, select Automatically keep Microsoft apps up to date.
   • Select Update and install all available updates.
   • Restart Word, then try Tools > Track Changes > Compare Documents again and select the .docx files.
3. Open and resave the documents before comparing
   • Open each document directly in Word (using File > Open).
   • If the document opens in Compatibility Mode, use File > Save As and choose Word Document (.docx), then save.
   • Close and reopen Word, then try Compare again with these newly saved .docx files.
4. If the files are blocked or damaged
   • If Word reports that the file type is blocked or cannot be opened, use File > Open, select the file, and in the Open dropdown choose Recover Text, then Open. Save the recovered content as a new .docx file and use that for Compare.
   • If a file still cannot be opened, it may be corrupted; restore another copy from backup and use that for Compare.

If, after updating and resaving as .docx, the files still appear greyed out in the Compare dialog, test with a new simple document pair (two small .docx files) to confirm whether the issue is with specific files or with Word itself.

References:

• Error: [Filename] uses a file type that is blocked from opening in this version
• Error: [Filename] uses a file type that is blocked from opening in this version
• My document title says [Compatibility Mode]
• My document title says [Compatibility Mode]