Why do Microsoft Word 2007 .docx files download as .zip?

When opening/saving .docx files in Microsoft Internet Explorer 8, .docx files turn into .zip files. According to various sources around the internet, this is an Internet Explorer issue that will be fixed in a future software update. Until then you can do one of two things to make it work:

1. Change the file from filename.zip to filename.docx

Or complete the following steps(thanks to: http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/internet-explorer-save-docx-xlsx-zip-files/):

1. In IE8, click on Tools to open the drop down menu.
2. Click Internet Options at the bottom of the tools menu.
3. Select the “Security” tab in the IE Options dialog box.
4. Select the Internet zone, then click the Custom Level button.
5. Scroll down the list to the option “Open file based on content, not file extension” and change to “Disable”.
6. Click OK.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 for the Local Intranet zone and Trusted Sites zone.
8. Click OK.
9. Close all instances of IE8.
10. Reopen IE8 and it should now recognize Office 2007 and 2010 file extensions when saving email attachments.

For questions, comments or better suggestions, please feel free to comment and we will “grow” this post.