How to Add or Edit Document Properties in Microsoft Word

Key Takeaways 

• Custom properties are additional elements you can assign to your Microsoft Word file and are not restricted to text values.
• When you create a new Word document, standard properties are associated with the file by default.

How to Add Custom Properties to a Word Document

You can assign numeric, text, or time values to custom properties. You can also define your custom properties or choose from Word’s list. Here’s how to create custom properties for your Word file.

Step 1: Launch Microsoft Word.

Step 2: On the Microsoft Word Ribbon, click on the File tab.

Step 3: Click the Info tab to view the document properties.

Step 4: Click the drop-down beside Properties at the top and click Advanced Properties to launch your Document’s Properties dialog box.

Step 5: On the dialog box, click the Custom tab. Name your custom property or choose from the default Word list shown in the Name field.

Step 6: From the Type list, select the data type for the custom property you want to add.

Step 7: In the Value box, choose or type a value for the property. The value entry depends on your selected Type.

For example: If you select Yes or No in the Type list, the value box will only have Yes or No as options.

Step 8: Click the Add button to include the new custom property in your Properties menu.

Step 9: Click OK to save your new changes.

How to Edit the Standard Document Properties in Word

Standard properties are author, title, and subject. For these standard properties, Microsoft Word expects you to specify your text values for them to make it easy to organize and identify the document. If you want to edit the standard properties for a Word document, here’s what to do:

Step 1: Launch the Microsoft Word app.

Step 2: On the Microsoft Word Ribbon, click on the File tab.

Step 3: Click the Info tab to view the document properties.

Step 4: Click Show All Properties at the bottom right to view all options.

Step 5: Place your cursor in the text box of the following properties fields to enter your preferred text value.

• Title
• Tag
• Comments
• Status
• Categories
• Subject
• Hyperlink Base
• Author

Step 7: After entering the details into the Properties field, return to the main Word page. Any changes made to the properties will be saved automatically.

Now, you may add tags and use these properties in Word.