Unable to open WPS Documents

Having trouble opening documents with the file extension .WPS?  If you don't have Mircrosoft Works (not to be confused with Word) on your computer, you won't be able to open .WPS files.

File extensions are the 3 letters after the period in a file extension.   These extensions tell the computer what program to use when you open a file.  The problem is that if you don't have that program installed on your computer, you can't open the document.

You may have seen the white icon with dots before like the one shown.  This is the standard "program not recognized" icon.  If you see this, it means that the computer doesn't know what program to use to open the document because that program isn't installed on your computer.  To solve the problem, you have to figure out what program originally created the document.  And to do this, you need to either determine the file extension or file type of the document.
If computer is configured to hide file extensions, you won't see them.  However, if you RIGHT click on the document's icon and select PROPERTIES, you will see the file type (i.e., what kind of document it is).  In this example, I right clicked on a Word document.  But this window looks the same for all documents you right click on.

Knowing what the file type is, will help you find the solution to your problem (which is opening the document).  If you are trying to open a Works document (which is the program that has the file extension .WPS), then you will see Microsoft Word for Works (or something similar) next to "Type of File".

If you have Microsoft Word installed on your computer, you can download a free Works Converter and install it on your computer.  This converter will let you open Word for Works in Microsoft Office.

Once the Works Converter is installed, just RIGHT CLICK on the Works document and select OPEN WITH and then Microsoft Word.  If you don't see "Open With" when you right click on the icon, hold the SHIFT key down on the keyboard and right click on the icon again (you should see it now).  If you don't see "Microsoft Word" listed in the document options, then you'll have to browse for the program in your program files and select it manually.

If you don't have Microsoft Works or Microsoft Word on your computer, the Works Converter won't help you.  And unfortunately, Open Office doesn't seem capable of opening .WPS files (not yet anyway). 

Microsoft Works is pre-installed on a lot of newer computers.  So if you know somebody that has Works on their computer, you can open the file on their computer (either email it to yourself or copy it to a flash drive). Otherwise, you can buy Microsoft Works for under $40.