However, if you share text files with people who work in other languages, download text files across the Internet, or share text files with other computer systems, you may need to choose an encoding standard when you open or save a file. Typically, you can share text files without worrying about the underlying details of how the text is stored. Word for Microsoft 365 Word 2021 Word 2019 Word 2016 Word 2013 Word 2010 Word 2007 Word Starter 2010 More.