Getting started with the Open XML SDK

The Open XML SDK simplifies the task of manipulating Open XML packages and the underlying Open XML schema elements within a package. The classes in the Open XML SDK encapsulate many common tasks that developers perform on Open XML packages, so that you can perform complex operations with just a few lines of code.

Available packages

The SDK is available as a collection of NuGet packages that support .NET 3.5+, .NET Standard 2.0, .NET 6+, and other supported platforms for those targets. For information about installing packages, please see the NuGet documentation. The following are the available packages:

  • DocumentFormat.OpenXml.Framework: This package contains the foundational framework that enables the SDK. This is a new package starting with v3.0 and contains many types that previously were included in DocumentFormat.OpenXml.
  • DocumentFormat.OpenXml: This package contains all of the strongly typed classes for parts and elements.
  • DocumentFormat.OpenXml.Features: This package contains additional functionality that enables some opt-in features.
  • DocumentFormat.OpenXml.Linq: This package contains a collection of all the fully qualified names for parts and elements to enable more efficient Linq usage.