Microsoft Office File Formats

The Microsoft Office file formats documentation provides detailed technical specifications for Microsoft Office file formats. The documentation is designed to describe each file format in detail as it is used by these applications to create documents.

The documentation set contains:

Documentation about Microsoft Office file formats
Reference documents

In addition to being available on this Web site, the Office protocol documentation is also available as a download package in .zip file format:

Microsoft Office File Formats Documentation

Note that inter-document links are functional only if all PDF files are located in the same directory. An error message appears if you click a link to a PDF document that is in a different folder (when viewing on your computer) or part of a different download (when viewing online).

In This Section

Microsoft Office File Formats Introduction

Microsoft Office File Formats Glossary

Microsoft Office File Format Documents

Microsoft Office File Formats Reference

Related Sections

Windows Protocols

Microsoft Office Protocols

SharePoint Products and Technologies Protocols

Exchange Server Protocols

Microsoft SQL Server Protocols

Microsoft Computer Languages

Microsoft Standards

Microsoft Interoperability

Microsoft Protocol Programs

Additional Resources

Open Specifications Forum Group	Participate in the top-level forum group.
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Windows Protocols	Discuss technical content and implementation of the Windows protocols described in the Open Specifications.
File Services	Discuss technical content and implementation of Server Message Block (SMB) protocols described in the Open Specifications.
Using the Office Protocols	Discuss technical content and implementation of the Microsoft Office protocols described in the Open Specifications.
Using the Exchange Server Protocols	Discuss technical content and implementation of the Exchange Server and Outlook protocols described in the Open Specifications.
Using the SharePoint Products and Technologies Protocols	Discuss technical content and implementation of the Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies protocols described in the Open Specifications.
Using the Office Binary File Formats	Discuss technical content and implementation of the Microsoft Office binary file formats described in the Open Specifications.
Using the Microsoft SQL Server Protocols	Discuss technical content and implementation of the Microsoft SQL Server protocols described in the Open Specifications.
Using the Microsoft VBA Language Specifications	See this forum to discuss technical content and implementation of the Microsoft VBA language specifications described in the Open Specifications.