Python | Working with .docx module

Last Updated : 07 Jul, 2018

Word documents contain formatted text wrapped within three object levels. Lowest level- Run objects, Middle level- Paragraph objects and Highest level- Document object. So, we cannot work with these documents using normal text editors. But, we can manipulate these word documents in python using the python-docx module.

1. The first step is to install this third-party module python-docx. You can use pip "pip install python-docx" or download the tarball from here. Here's the Github repository. 2. After installation import "docx" NOT "python-docx". 3. Use "docx.Document" class to start working with the word document.

Code #1:

Python

# import docx NOT python-docx
import docx

# create an instance of a word document
doc = docx.Document()

# add a heading of level 0 (largest heading)
doc.add_heading('Heading for the document', 0)

# add a paragraph and store 
# the object in a variable
doc_para = doc.add_paragraph('Your paragraph goes here, ')

# add a run i.e, style like 
# bold, italic, underline, etc.
doc_para.add_run('hey there, bold here').bold = True
doc_para.add_run(', and ')
doc_para.add_run('these words are italic').italic = True

# add a page break to start a new page
doc.add_page_break()

# add a heading of level 2
doc.add_heading('Heading level 2', 2)

# pictures can also be added to our word document
# width is optional
doc.add_picture('path_to_picture')

# now save the document to a location
doc.save('path_to_document')

Output:

Notice the page break in the second page. Code #2: Now, to open a word document, create an instance along with passing the path to the document.

Python

# import the Document class 
# from the docx module
from docx import Document

# create an instance of a 
# word document we want to open
doc = Document('path_to_the_document')

# print the list of paragraphs in the document
print('List of paragraph objects:->>>')
print(doc.paragraphs)

# print the list of the runs 
# in a specified paragraph
print('\nList of runs objects in 1st paragraph:->>>')
print(doc.paragraphs[0].runs)

# print the text in a paragraph 
print('\nText in the 1st paragraph:->>>')
print(doc.paragraphs[0].text)

# for printing the complete document
print('\nThe whole content of the document:->>>\n')
for para in doc.paragraphs:
    print(para.text)

Output:

List of paragraph objects:->>>
[<docx.text.paragraph.Paragraph object at 0x7f45b22dc128>,
<docx.text.paragraph.Paragraph object at 0x7f45b22dc5c0>,
<docx.text.paragraph.Paragraph object at 0x7f45b22dc0b8>,
<docx.text.paragraph.Paragraph object at 0x7f45b22dc198>,
<docx.text.paragraph.Paragraph object at 0x7f45b22dc0f0>]

List of runs objects in 1st paragraph:->>>
[<docx.text.run.Run object at 0x7f45b22dc198>]

Text in the 1st paragraph:->>>
Heading for the document

The whole content of the document:->>>

Heading for the document
Your paragraph goes here, hey there, bold here, and these words are italic


Heading level 2

Reference: https://python-docx.readthedocs.io/en/latest/#user-guide.