How to view a Microsoft Word document from MS-DOS

To view a Microsoft Word document (*.doc), you must install and use Microsoft Word. You cannot view a Microsoft Word document in MS-DOS.

However, you can start the Microsoft Word program and open the Word document from an MS-DOS shell by typing the command below.

start myfile.doc

Here, myfile.doc is the name of the Microsoft Word document. Running the above command causes Microsoft Word to start and immediately open myfile.doc.

For additional information about the start command, see our start command overview.