Sample DOC Files — Download Legacy Word 97-2003 Test Documents
Microsoft Word 97–2003 binary · .doc · MIME type application/msword
Download a sample DOC file — a genuine Word 97–2003 binary document, not a renamed DOCX. These are produced by converting our DOCX samples with macOS's built-in document converter, so they have the OLE2 compound-file structure that real legacy files have and that upload validators check for.
DOC files still arrive from older organisations, government forms and archived email. Libraries that parse them (Apache POI, antiword, LibreOffice headless) behave differently from DOCX parsers, so it is worth testing both paths. Note that the conversion keeps text, headings, lists and tables but drops embedded images.
Download sample DOC files
| File | Details | Size | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
sample-document-small.doc | — | 28 KB | |
sample-document-medium.doc | — | 37 KB | |
sample-document-large.doc | — | 67 KB |
Need one of every documents format? Download the documents sample pack (110 KB, one small file of every documents format (14 files)).
Use these files from the command line or CI
Every URL is stable and CORS-open. Pin the SHA-256 in your test and you will know the moment a fixture changes.
# Download one file curl -O https://pnb-website-bucket.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/samples/documents/doc/sample-document-small.doc # Verify it (SHA-256 is listed for every file above) shasum -a 256 sample-document-small.doc # Machine-readable index of every sample file curl https://pnb-website-bucket.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/samples/index.json | jq '.files[] | select(.format=="doc")'
DOC format at a glance
| Full name | Microsoft Word 97–2003 binary |
|---|---|
| Extensions | .doc |
| MIME type | application/msword |
| Era | Word 97 through Word 2003; readable by all later versions |
| Container | OLE2 Compound File Binary |
| Contents | Headings, lists, table (images not preserved in conversion) |
| Magic bytes | D0 CF 11 E0 A1 B1 1A E1 |
What people test with sample DOC files
- Legacy-format upload acceptance
- DOC → DOCX/PDF conversion
- Antivirus and macro-scanner behaviour (these files contain no macros)
Frequently asked questions
How can I tell a real DOC from a renamed DOCX?
Look at the first bytes: a real DOC starts with D0 CF 11 E0 (the OLE2 signature); a DOCX starts with PK (ZIP). Our DOC samples are the former. Never trust the extension in an upload handler.
Are these DOC files safe to download?
Yes. Every file is generated by our own open script from scratch — nothing is scraped or user-uploaded — and contains no scripts, macros or executables. The SHA-256 of each file is published on this page so you can verify what you received.
Can I use the sample DOC files commercially?
Yes. They are free for any purpose, including commercial products, test suites, demos and redistribution, with no attribution required. There is nothing to license and no one to ask.
Can I hotlink these files or use them in CI?
Yes. Every link is a stable direct URL over HTTPS with Access-Control-Allow-Origin: * and long cache headers, so curl, wget, fetch() and test runners can pull them directly. A JSON index of every file is linked from each page (see the command-line section).
Related sample files
Testing a file pipeline? We build them.
Uploads, conversions, previews, document processing and media workflows are the kind of production systems Pine & Birch designs and runs for clients — which is why we needed these files in the first place.
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