How can a browser read DOCX metadata without Word?

A .docx file is really a ZIP archive of XML parts. The tool reads the ZIP's central directory, inflates the docProps/core.xml and docProps/app.xml entries with the browser's built-in decompression, and parses the standard Dublin Core and Office metadata fields. No server is involved.

What is the revision count?

The revision number is incremented by Word each time the document is saved. A high revision count suggests heavy editing; a count of 1 means the file was saved only once since creation, which can be a useful forensic signal.

Why are some fields blank?

Word only writes a property if it was set. Anonymous templates, files cleaned of metadata, or documents created by other tools may leave creator, company or title empty. Blank simply means the field was not stored.

Can this detect who really wrote a document?

It shows the creator and last-modified-by names recorded in the file, which come from the Word account or login of the author. These can be edited or spoofed, so treat them as evidence, not proof of authorship.

Does it work on old .doc files?

No. The classic binary .doc format is not a ZIP and uses a completely different OLE structure. This tool only reads the modern Office Open XML .docx format. Convert .doc to .docx first.

DOCX Metadata Viewer

A DOCX metadata viewer reveals the hidden properties stored inside a Word document — who created it, who last edited it, when, and how many times it was saved. That information is invaluable for document forensics, due diligence, and checking that a file has been scrubbed before you share it. This tool reads everything locally in your browser, so sensitive documents never get uploaded.

How it works

A modern Word .docx file is a ZIP archive (Office Open XML) containing several XML parts. The metadata lives in two of them:

docProps/core.xml — Dublin Core fields: dc:creator, cp:lastModifiedBy, dcterms:created, dcterms:modified, dc:title, cp:revision, cp:keywords.
docProps/app.xml — Office application fields: Application, Company, Words, Pages, TotalTime (editing minutes).

The tool reads the ZIP central directory at the end of the file to find those entries, inflates each one with the browser’s native DecompressionStream("deflate-raw") (ZIP uses raw deflate), then parses the XML and pulls out each tag’s text.

Tips and notes

The TotalTime field is the cumulative minutes the document was open for editing — sometimes more revealing than the revision count.
To remove metadata before sharing, use Word’s Inspect Document → Remove All feature, then re-check it here.
A creation date later than the modification date can indicate the file was copied or its clock was changed — a classic forensic red flag.
Only the standard property parts are read; custom XML and tracked-changes data are not parsed.