.DOCX File Format – Document properties

Office Open XML Document

A package’s metadata is in the parts docProps/core.xml, docProps/app.xml and, when there are any, docProps/custom.xml, reached by the relationships of the package itself in _rels/.rels. These parts are not needed to read the document, and they commonly hold authors’ names.

Core properties: core.xml

<cp:coreProperties
    xmlns:cp="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/metadata/core-properties"
    xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
    xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
  <dc:title>Annual report</dc:title>
  <dc:creator>Ada Example</dc:creator>
  <cp:lastModifiedBy>Ben Example</cp:lastModifiedBy>
  <cp:revision>3</cp:revision>
  <dcterms:created xsi:type="dcterms:W3CDTF">2024-05-17T13:45:00Z</dcterms:created>
  <dcterms:modified xsi:type="dcterms:W3CDTF">2024-05-18T09:00:00Z</dcterms:modified>
</cp:coreProperties>
Core properties, invented for this example.
ElementMeaning
dc:title, dc:subject, dc:descriptionTitle, subject and description (“comments”).
dc:creatorThe author.
cp:keywords, cp:category, cp:contentStatusKeywords, category and status.
cp:lastModifiedByWho saved it last.
cp:revisionHow many times it has been saved.
dcterms:created, dcterms:modifiedDates, in W3CDTF.
cp:lastPrintedWhen it was last printed.
dc:language, dc:identifier, cp:versionLanguage, an identifier and a version string.

Application properties: app.xml

The root is Properties in the …/officeDocument/2006/extended-properties namespace.

ElementMeaning
Application, AppVersionThe program that saved it, such as Microsoft Office Word and 16.0000.
TemplateThe template’s name.
TotalTimeEditing time in minutes.
Pages, Words, Characters, CharactersWithSpaces, Lines, ParagraphsCounts as Word worked them out when it last saved.
Company, ManagerFrom the properties dialog.
DocSecurityA security level, as a number: 0 for none.
HyperlinksChanged, LinksUpToDate, ScaleCrop, SharedDocFlags.

Nothing checks these values: another program may have saved the file and written different numbers, or left the part out.

Custom properties: custom.xml

<Properties
    xmlns="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/custom-properties"
    xmlns:vt="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/docPropsVTypes">
  <property fmtid="{D5CDD505-2E9C-101B-9397-08002B2CF9AE}" pid="2" name="Project">
    <vt:lpwstr>Example</vt:lpwstr>
  </property>
</Properties>
The type of each custom value is one of the vt: elements.

The thumbnail

A package may have a thumbnail relationship to an image part, usually docProps/thumbnail.jpeg, showing the first page. Word saves one when the option to save a preview picture is on. It stays as it was when last saved, so it can show text that has since been changed.