WPS Office Review

WPS Office (previously called Kingsoft Office) is a free Microsoft Office alternative that comes with three office products, each with a splendid display and easy to use interface. Automatic spell check and support for popular file types are just a couple of the included features you can find here.

The program installs Presentation, Spreadsheet, and Writer—these can be used to replace Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, and Word, respectively.

It runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, and Android.

WPS Office File Formats

WPS Office fully supports the following file types, which means you can open and save back to these formats:

CSV, DBF, DOC, DOCM, DOCX, DOT, DOTM, DPS, DPT, ET, ETT, HTM, HTML, MHT, MHTML, POT, PPS, PPTX, PPT, PRN, RTF, TXT, WPS, WPT, XLS, XLSM, XLSX, XLT, XML

As you can see, popular Microsoft Office file formats, such as DOCX, PPTX, and XLSX, can also be used in this program.

WPS Office vs Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office comes bundled with several programs: an email client, note-taking application, and spreadsheet, presentation, database, and word processor software, among others.

While WPS Office doesn't support the same variety of products, it is a close competitor to MS Office in that with those that it does have in common (word processor, etc.), it's a rather close match as to which is better than the other.

Personally, I prefer the tabbed interface of WPS Office vs the one offered by MS Office. Sometimes something as simple as that can sway you to prefer one suite over the other. However, because Office is so popular, you may be required to use file types or specific Office programs, like Access, which can leave you wanting something more than this free office suite. 

You can even use WPS Cloud to edit documents online, much like Microsoft Office Online. It's just as easy to use as the desktop version.

With all things considered, it's important to realize that while you may need Microsoft's apps to work in some projects or use particular file types, WPS Office is a nice alternative that has its own set of features and benefits.

At the very least, if you're in a pinch to open a new Microsoft Office document type, but your computer doesn't run Office, this suite is a great way to get that file open so that you can edit and save it just like you would if Microsoft's programs were installed.

More Information

There are loads of other features that will take some time to find. Here are a few of the more noteworthy functions and some other details:

• You get 1 GB of free online storage space when you sign in to your user account.
• Download mini apps within WPS Office to do things like convert PDFs to Word or Excel formats, walk through a resume builder, record your screen, repair damaged documents, and enable OCR to read text from images and screenshots.
• Create a team to share files and collaborate on documents.
  
• Access free templates from their website, or from within the program, to quickly build posters, cards, and more.
• Build separate workspaces for your various projects to stay on task.
• Files can be opened from your computer or your Google Drive or Dropbox account. If you have files saved to WPS Cloud, those are accessible through the program, too.
• Share files with anyone, and optionally prevent viewers from downloading, saving, or printing the file. You can also make auto-expiring, view-only links for people who don't have a WPS account.
• Automatic backups can ensure your documents are saved as frequently as every 1 minute. There's also a Smart Backup and an Incremental Backup option.
• Get the offline installer if the computer won't have a solid internet connection, or opt for the online installer.
• WPS Search can find files in your cloud account or on your computer.
• Edit the theme with custom color settings to customize the interface.
• There are paid versions of this program that turn on additional features like PDF editing, file format conversions, an ad-free experience, and more cloud storage.

Thoughts on WPS Office

If you're comparing WPS Office to another paid or free office suite, you'll easily find things that are missing, like a database program or live spell check. But it's important to look at WPS Office on its own to recognize its own advantages.

Ease of use is sometimes more indispensable than having hundreds of unique features. I think WPS Office is the easiest office suite to use, and to look at for that matter. I've had no troubles using it, and the tabbed interface creates a much less cluttered work area.

Aside from aesthetics alone, this software suite is also flexible in that it works with many common file types that you may be required to use, which makes it just that much sweeter.