How to Corrupt Word Files

Use online file corruption tools

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Visit https://corrupt-a-file.net using a web browser. Corrupt-a-File is a free tool that can corrupt any document you upload.

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Click FROM YOUR COMPUTER . This option is below the "Select the file to corrupt" line. Your computer's file browser opens.

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Select the Word document and click Open . The file name will appear below the "Select the file to corrupt" line.

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Click CORRUPT FILE . The file will be uploaded and corrupted by the tool.

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Click DOWNLOAD YOUR CORRUPTED FILE . This option will appear once the file is ready.

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Name the file and then click Save . The damaged file will be downloaded to the computer.

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Try opening this file in Word. If your computer has Word available, you can double-click the file to try opening it in that application. A message that the file content is corrupt will appear. Click Okay to continue, then Word will try to repair or restore the content (unsuccessfully).

Use Notepad on Windows

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Open Notepad on Windows. The application is located in the Windows Accessories folder under the Start menu.

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Click the File menu and choose Open . The file browser will appear.

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Select All Files from the drop-down menu. This option is located in the lower right corner of the file browser, usually defaulting to Text Documents (*.txt) .

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Select the document then click Open . A series of meaningless words will appear on the Notepad window.

You can use any Word document (no matter the content) because no one can open this file.

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Delete some lines of text. About 7 or 8 lines should be enough.

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Click the File menu and choose Save As . The "Save As" window will appear.

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Select All Files from the "Save As Type" menu at the bottom of the window.

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Name the file then click Save . So the corrupted version of the file has been saved.

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Try opening the damaged file in Word. If your computer has Word available, you can double-click the file to try opening it in that application. A notification that the content is corrupted will appear. Click Okay to continue, then Word will try to repair or restore the content (unsuccessfully).

Change file extension on Windows

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You need to make sure the file extension is showing. By default, file extensions are usually hidden. Here's how to display file extensions:

Open the Windows search bar and enter file options.

Click File Explorer Options in the list of results.

Click the View tab. It's at the top of the window.

Remove the check mark from the "Hide extensions for known file types" box under the "Advanced Settings" heading.

Click OK .

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Find files that aren't Word or text documents. You can start with files that can't be opened in Word, such as images (.jpeg, .gif, .png) or audio clips (like .wav, .mp3, .ogg). We will use this file to create a fake corrupted Word document.

Since you will damage the file, check to make sure it is an unimportant document. You can also make a copy of the file before changing the extension if you want to keep the original file.

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Right-click the file and select Rename . The file name will be highlighted, you can now edit it.

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Replace the current extension with .docx. If you are working with .files file.jpg, replace the ".jpg" extension with .docx.

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Press ↵ Enter. A dialog box will pop up asking if you are sure about renaming the file.

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Click Yes . The file will be saved with the .docx extension. If you try to open the file in Word, an error message will appear indicating that the file is damaged.

If you want to hide file extensions again, return to the View tab of File Explorer Options and check the "Hide extensions for known file types" box.

Change file extensions on Mac

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You need to make sure the file extension is showing. By default, file extensions are usually hidden. Here's how to display file extensions:

Open Finder .

Click the Finder menu near the upper left corner of the screen.

Click Preferences .

Click the Advanced tab . This option has a gear icon.

Check the box "Show all filename extensions" (Show all extensions in the filename)

Click the red circle in the upper left corner to close the window.

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Find files that aren't Word or text documents. You can start with files that can't be opened in Word, such as images (.jpeg, .gif, .png) or audio clips (like .wav, .mp3, .ogg). We will use this file to create a fake corrupted Word document.

Since you will damage the file, check to make sure it is an unimportant document. You can also make a copy of the file before changing the extension if you want to keep the original file.

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Click the file to select it then press ⏎ Return. Right-click the file and select Rename. The file name will be highlighted in blue, you can now edit it.

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Replace the current extension with .docx. If you are working with .files file.jpg, replace the ".jpg" extension with .docx.

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Press ⏎ Return. A dialog box will appear for you to confirm your decision to change the file extension.

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Click Use .docx . The file will be saved with the .docx extension. If you try to open the file in Word, an error message will appear indicating that the file is damaged.

If you want to hide file extensions in the Finder, go back to Finder > Preferences > Advanced and uncheck the box "Show all filename extensions."

Marvin Fry

Update 10 November 2023