Creating Custom Document Properties

Besides your actual document, Word also maintains quite a bit of statistical and overview information about your document. You can view a portion of this information by choosing the Properties option from the File menu. Word then displays the Properties dialog box for your document, and you can use the different tabs to view the information maintained.

In addition to the standard properties maintained by Word, you can create your own custom document properties. These can then be used within your document (using the DOCPROPERTY field) or within macros. To create a custom document property, start by displaying the Properties dialog box for the document. How you do this depends on the version of Word you are using. If you are using Word 2010 or a later version, follow these steps:

1. Click the File tab of the ribbon and make sure that Info is selected at the left side of the screen.
2. Click the Properties drop-down list and choose Advanced Properties. Word displays the Properties dialog box for the document.

If you are using Word 2007, follow these steps:

1. Click the Office button and then click Prepare and, finally, Properties. Word displays the Document Information Panel at the top of your document, just below the ribbon.
2. Use the Document Properties drop-down list (top-left corner of the Document Information Panel) to choose Advanced Properties. Word displays the Properties dialog box for the document.

Regardless of which version of Word you are using, make sure the Custom tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Custom tab of the Properties dialog box.

From this point you can follow these steps:

1. In the Name box, type the name you want used for your new document property.
2. Using the Type drop-down list, specify the type that best describes what you will store in this document property.
3. In the Value box, type the value you want assigned to the property.
4. Click on the Add button. Your new property appears at the bottom of the dialog box, in the Properties list.
5. Click on OK or Cancel to dismiss the Properties dialog box.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12599) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Creating Custom Document Properties.