Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Creating Custom Document Properties.

Creating Custom Document Properties

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 11, 2023)

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, follow these steps:

Choose Properties from the File menu. Word displays the Properties dialog box for your document.
Make sure the Custom tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

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

In the Name box, type the name you want used for your new document property.
Using the Type drop-down list, specify the type that best describes what you will store in this document property.
In the Value box, type the value you want assigned to the property.
Click on the Add button. Your new property appears at the bottom of the dialog box, in the Properties list.
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 (661) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Creating Custom Document Properties.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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