How to Corrupt Word Files

This wikiHow teaches you how to corrupt a file so that a Microsoft Word document cannot be opened.

Table of Contents

Use an online file damage tool

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Go to https://corrupt-a-file.net using a web browser. Corrupt-a-File is a free tool capable of corrupting any document you upload.

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Click FROM YOUR COMPUTER (From your computer). This option is below the “Select the file to corrupt” line. The file browser on your computer will open.

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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 after the file is ready.

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Name the file and then click Save . Corrupted files will be downloaded to your computer.

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Try opening this file in Word. If you have Word on your computer, you can double-click the file to try opening it in that application. A message that the file contents are corrupted will appear. Click Okay to continue, then Word will try to fix or recover the content (unsuccessfully).

Using Notepad on Windows

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

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Click the File menu and select 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, which usually defaults to Text Documents (*.txt) .

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Select the document and then click Open . A bunch of meaningless words will appear in 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 and then click Save . So the corrupted version of the file has been saved.

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Try opening the corrupted file in Word. If you have Word on your computer, you can double-click the file to try opening it in that application. A message that the content is corrupted will appear. Click Okay to continue, then Word will try to fix or recover the content (unsuccessfully).

Change file extension on Windows

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

Open the Windows search bar and type the file options .
Click File Explorer Options in the list of results.
Click the View tab 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 are not Word documents or text. You can start with a file that cannot be opened in Word, such as an image (.jpeg, .gif, .png extension) or a sound clip (such as .wav, .mp3, .ogg). We’ll use this file to create a corrupt fake Word document.

Since you will damage the file, check to make sure it’s a non-critical document. You can also make a copy of the file before changing the extension if you want to keep the original file.

Change file extensions on Mac

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You need to make sure that the file extension is showing. By default, the file extension is usually hidden. Here’s how the file extension is displayed: ^{[1] X Research Source}

Open Finder

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

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Find files that are not Word documents or text. You can start with a file that cannot be opened in Word, such as an image (.jpeg, .gif, .png extension) or a sound clip (such as .wav, .mp3, .ogg). We’ll use this file to create a corrupt fake Word document.

Since you will damage the file, check to make sure it’s a non-critical 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 filename will be highlighted in blue, which you can now edit. ^{[2] X Research Source}

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Replace the current extension with .docx . If you are working with a file.jpg file, 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. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

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Click Use .docx (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 stating that the file is corrupted.

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

Warning

Do not use files that you may need later, because damaged files are often difficult to recover. Don’t forget to create a dummy file or use a copy of the original document.
Use extreme caution if you want to corrupt files in response to assignments sent over the internet at school or college. Schools are becoming more and more strict with this trick, some subjects can even give you 0 points right away for damaging documents. Please read your school’s rules on this matter carefully before attempting to do so.

Steps

Use an online file damage tool

Using Notepad on Windows

Change file extension on Windows

Change file extensions on Mac

Warning

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