What is DocX?
DocX is a .NET library that allows developers to manipulate Word 2007/2010/2013 files, in an easy and intuitive manner. DocX is fast, lightweight and best of all it does not require Microsoft Word or Office to be installed.
NOTE: There is a new Master branch as of Oct. 3, 2017. Please read about the Classic branch if you were using this project before the change.
DocX is the free, open source version of Xceed Words for .NET. Originally written by Cathal Coffey, and maintained by Przemyslaw Klys, it is now maintained by Xceed. Starting at v1.5.0, this free and open source product is provided under the Xceed Community License agreement(for non-commercial use).
Currently, the differences between DocX and Xceed Words for .NET, is that Xceed Words for .NET :
- can convert a Word document to PDF
- adds properties to wrap text around Pictures/Tables/Shapes
- adds Picture cropping
- adds Shapes (rectangles for now)
- adds TextBoxes or Shapes containing Text
- gets Shapes from Paragraphs
- gets Charts from Paragraphs and can modify their categories/values
- More properties in Charts configuration like axis Label position and series width
- is at least two versions ahead of the DocX version
- has professional technical support included in the subscription
- can automatically update fields from a document
- Insert html/rtf text (with tags), or html/rtf document, to a Word document
- Clone lists or tables
- Add or modify checkboxes
- Set transparency in pictures
- Create formatted hyperlinks based on a referenced hyperlinks
- Joining 2 documents gives the opportunity to choose the headers/footers of doc1, doc2 or both of them in the resulting document.
- Automatic hyphenations and configurable hyphenations
- Digital signatures can be added to documents in the .NET Framework environment
- Add footnotes and endnotes
- ListOptions for List level configurations
- Modify Chart's Series Marker and DataPoint styles
- Insert a document at a specific point in another document
- Wrap text around Charts
- Format Charts Axis' title
- Replace text with html
What else do I need?
All that you need to install in order to use DocX is the .NET framework 4.0 or .NET5+ and Visual Studio 2010 or later, both of which are free.
What are the main features of DocX?
| Edition | DocX | Xceed Words for .NET |
| Price | Free | $599.95 |
| License | Xceed Community License | Proprietary |
| Email support | YES | |
| Create new Word documents | YES | YES |
| Modify Word documents | YES | YES |
| Create new PDF documents | YES | |
| Convert Word to PDF | YES | |
| Supports .DOCX from Word 2007 and up | YES | YES |
| Modify multiple documents in parallel for better performance | YES | YES |
| Apply a template to a Word document | YES | YES |
| Join documents, recreate portions from one to another | YES | YES |
| Supports document protection with or without password | YES | YES |
| Set document margins and page size | YES | YES |
| Set line spacing, indentation, text direction, text alignment | YES | YES |
| Wrap text around pictures | YES | |
| Pictures with cropping | YES | |
| Manage fonts and font sizes | YES | YES |
| Set text color, bold, underline, italic, strikethrough, highlighting | YES | YES |
| Set page numbering | YES | YES |
| Create sections | YES | YES |
| Available on .net for .net 5+ applications | YES | YES |
| Works on Windows/Linux/Mac/iOS/Android | YES | YES |
| Update document fields (ex: a table of contents) by calling only one method | YES | |
| Wrap text around tables | YES | |
| Wrap text around shapes | YES | |
| Create shapes (rectangles for now) | YES | |
| Create textboxes or shapes containing text | YES | |
| Get shapes from paragraphs | YES | |
| Get charts from paragraphs and modify their categories/values | YES | |
| Update document fields with 1 method call | YES | |
| Insert html/rtf text (with tags), or html/rtf document, to a Word document | YES | |
| Clone lists or tables | YES | |
| Add or modify checkboxes | YES | |
| Set transparency in pictures | YES | |
| Create formatted hyperlinks based on a referenced hyperlinks | YES | |
| Joining 2 documents gives the opportunity to choose which headers/footers to use | YES | |
| More properties to configure Charts | YES | |
| Automatic Hyphenations and configurable hyphenations | YES | |
| Digital signatures in .NET Framework | YES | |
| Add footnotes and endnotes | YES | |
| ListOptions for List level configurations | YES | |
| Modify Chart's Series Marker and DataPoint styles | YES | |
| Insert a document at a specific point in another document | YES | |
| Wrap text around Charts | YES | |
| Format Charts Axis' title | YES | |
| Replace text with html | YES | |
| Get release ahead | YES |
Supported Word document elements
- Add headers or footers which can be the same on all pages, or unique for the first page, or unique for odd/even pages. Can contain images, hyperlinks and more.
- Insert/Modify paragraphs.
- Insert/Modify numbered or bulleted lists.
- Insert/Modify images. Flip, rotate, copy, modify, resize.
- Insert/Modify tables. Insert/Remove rows, columns, change direction, column width, row height, borders, merge/delete cells.
- Insert/Modify formatted equations or formulas.
- Insert/Modify bookmarks.
- Insert/Modify hyperlinks.
- Insert/Modify horizontal lines.
- Insert/Modify charts (bar, line, pie, 3D chart). Set colors, titles, legend, etc.
- Find, remove or replace text. Supports case sensitivity and regular expressions.
- Insert/Modify core or custom properties, such as author, address, subject, title, etc.
- Insert a Table Of Contents. Set title, change formatting.
Why would I use DocX?
DocX makes creating and manipulating documents a simple task. It does not use COM libraries nor does it require Microsoft Office to be installed.
The following blog post from Cathal Coffey compares the code used to create a HelloWorld document using:
- Office Interop libraries,
- OOXML SDK,
- DocX
Advanced Examples
- Step by step guide to create an invoice for a company. http://cathalscorner.blogspot.com/2009/08/docx-v1007-released.html
- Replace text across many documents in Parallel. http://cathalscorner.blogspot.com/2010/12/replace-text-across-many-documents-in.html
- Programmatically manipulate an Image imbedded inside a document. http://cathalscorner.blogspot.com/2010/12/programmatically-manipulate-image.html
- Converting DocX into (.doc, .pdf, .html) http://cathalscorner.blogspot.com/2009/10/converting-docx-into-doc-pdf-html.html
Do you have an interesting or informative example that you would like to share? If you do, please email me.
License Information
DocX is provided under the Xceed Software, Inc. Community License.
More information can be found in the License page.
A commercial license can be purchased at Xceed.
Release history
- March 10, 2025, released DocX v4.0.0 with 20 bug fixes and improvements.
- February 3, 2025, released Xceed Words for .NET v4.0.0 with 39 bug fixes and improvements.
- July 5, 2024, released DocX v3.0.1 with 6 bug fixes and improvements.
- March 4, 2024, released Xceed Words for .NET v3.0.1 with 17 bug fixes and improvements.
- January 22, 2024, released DocX v3.0.0 with 14 bug fixes and improvements.
- October 23, 2023, released Xceed Words for .NET v3.0.0 with 21 bug fixes and improvements.
- August 11, 2023, released DocX v2.5.0 with 11 bug fixes and improvements.
- April 3, 2023, released Xceed Words for .NET v2.5.0 with 31 bug fixes and improvements.
- November 28, 2022, released DocX v2.4.0 with 14 bug fixes and improvements.
- October 5, 2022, released Xceed Words for .NET v2.4.0 with 32 bug fixes and improvements.
- September 15, 2022, released DocX v2.3.0 with 7 bug fixes and improvements.
- June 1, 2022, released DocX v2.2.0 with 5 bug fixes and improvements.
- May 14, 2022, released Xceed Words for .NET v2.3.0 with 15 bug fixes and improvements.
- March 22, 2022, released DocX v2.1.0 with 22 bug fixes and improvements.
- February 4, 2022, released Xceed Words for .NET v2.2.0 with 17 bug fixes and improvements.
- December 2, 2021, released DocX v2.0.0 with 10 bug fixes and improvements.
- November 15, 2021, released Xceed Words for .NET v2.1.0 with 44 bug fixes and improvements.
- July 19, 2021, released Xceed Words for .NET v2.0.0 with 49 bug fixes and improvements.
- May 18, 2021, released DocX v1.8.0 with 11 bug fixes and improvements.
- January 25, 2021, released Xceed Words for .NET v1.8.0 with 30 bug fixes and improvements.
- September 22, 2020, released DocX v1.7.1 with 19 bug fixes and improvements.
- August 17, 2020, released Xceed Words for .NET v1.7.1 with 28 bug fixes and improvements.
- June 29, 2020, released DocX v1.7.0 with 27 bug fixes and improvements.
- January 30, 2020, released DocX v1.6.0 with 24 bug fixes and improvements.
- January 30, 2020, released Xceed Words for .NET v1.7.0 with 62 bug fixes and improvements.
- November 26, 2019, released DocX v1.5.0 with 19 bug fixes and improvements.
- October 4, 2019, released DocX v1.4.1 with 12 bug fixes and improvements.
- February 21, 2019, released DocX v1.3.0 with 12 bug fixes and improvements.
- January 28, 2019, released Xceed Words for .NET v1.6.0 with 71 bug fixes and improvements.
- June 27, 2018, released DocX v1.2.0 with 13 bug fixes and improvements.
- June 18, 2018, released Xceed Words for .NET v1.5.0 with 71 bug fixes and improvements.
- April 12, 2018, released Xceed Words for .NET v1.4.1 with 22 bug fixes and improvements.
- January 15, 2018, released Xceed Words for .NET v1.4.0 with 19 bug fixes and improvements.
- September 12, 2017, released Xceed Words for .NET v1.3.0 with 13 bug fixes and improvements.
- June 5, 2017, released Xceed Words for .NET v1.2.0 with 13 bug fixes and improvements.
- October 3, 2017, released DocX v1.1.0 with 6 bug fixes and improvements.
- March 1, 2017, released Xceed Words for .NET v1.1.0 with 6 bug fixes and improvements.
