.DOCX File Format – Headers, footers and sections

Office Open XML Document

A section is a stretch of a document with its own page setup, headers and footers. Its properties are in a w:sectPr. Every section but the last ends with a paragraph that has w:sectPr in its w:pPr; the properties of the last section are the last child of w:body.

Section properties: w:sectPr

<w:sectPr>
  <w:headerReference w:type="default" r:id="rId7"/>
  <w:footerReference w:type="default" r:id="rId8"/>
  <w:pgSz w:w="11906" w:h="16838"/>
  <w:pgMar w:top="1440" w:right="1440" w:bottom="1440" w:left="1440"
    w:header="708" w:footer="708" w:gutter="0"/>
  <w:cols w:space="708"/>
  <w:docGrid w:linePitch="360"/>
</w:sectPr>
An A4 section with a header and a footer.
ElementMeaning
w:headerReference, w:footerReferenceA header or footer part, by relationship ID, with w:type default, first or even.
w:typeHow the section starts: nextPage (the default), continuous, evenPage, oddPage or nextColumn.
w:pgSzPage size in twips: w:w, w:h, and w:orient for landscape.
w:pgMarMargins, and the distance of the header and footer from the page edge.
w:colsNewspaper columns: w:num, w:space, or one w:col each.
w:pgNumTypePage numbering: format and starting number.
w:titlePgThe first page of the section has its own header and footer (the first type).
w:footnotePr, w:endnotePrNote properties for the section.
w:lnNumTypeLine numbering.
w:docGridThe document grid.
w:sectPrChangeThe previous properties, under tracked changes.

Header and footer parts

Each header is a part with the root w:hdr, and each footer one with the root w:ftr, usually named word/header1.xml, word/footer1.xml and so on. The root holds block-level content, as the body does. It can use its own relationships for pictures and links.

<w:hdr xmlns:w="…">
  <w:p>
    <w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val="Header"/></w:pPr>
    <w:r><w:t>Annual report</w:t></w:r>
  </w:p>
</w:hdr>
A header part.

Which header is used

In each section:

  • The default header applies to ordinary pages.
  • With w:titlePg, the first page uses the first header.
  • With w:evenAndOddHeaders in word/settings.xml, even-numbered pages use the even header and odd pages the default one.

A section with no reference of a type continues the header of that type from the section before.