Document Processing SDKs

Annotate DOCX Documents with Java

Add and manage annotations in Word DOCX files programmatically — no Microsoft Office required.

Maven Download

Start Free Trial

How to Annotate a DOCX in Java

GroupDocs.Annotation for Java makes it easy to annotate DOCX documents:

Open the DOCX with an Annotator instance.
Create and configure the annotation you need.
Add the annotation to the document.
Save the annotated DOCX.

Sample annotations Copy

// Annotate a DOCX document

// Open the DOCX with an Annotator instance
Annotator annotator = new Annotator("input.docx");
try {
    // Create an area annotation
    AreaAnnotation area = new AreaAnnotation();
    area.setBox(new Rectangle(100, 100, 200, 80));
    area.setBackgroundColor(65535);
    area.setPageNumber(0);
    area.setMessage("Important");

    // Add the annotation
    annotator.add(area);

    // Save the annotated DOCX
    annotator.save("annotated.docx");
} finally {
    annotator.dispose();
}

implementation 'com.groupdocs:groupdocs-annotation:25.6.0'

click to copy

copied

Full Control Over DOCX Annotations

Add every annotation type to Word documents and manage them with a simple API.

Text Markup

Highlight, underline, strike out, or replace text in DOCX files.

Shapes & Watermarks

Draw shapes and stamp watermarks or images onto DOCX pages.

Manage Annotations

Get, remove, import, and export DOCX annotations.

Read DOCX Annotations

Retrieve the annotations stored in an annotated DOCX document:

Java

Download result Copy

//  Open the annotated DOCX
Annotator annotator = new Annotator("annotated.docx");
try {
    // Get all annotations
    List<AnnotationBase> annotations = annotator.get();

    // Inspect each annotation
    for (AnnotationBase annotation : annotations) {
        System.out.println(annotation.getMessage());
    }

    // Save the document
    annotator.save("output.docx");
} finally {
    annotator.dispose();
}

implementation 'com.groupdocs:groupdocs-annotation:25.6.0'

click to copy

copied

Annotate DOCX Files

GroupDocs.Annotation for Java lets you add, edit, and remove annotations in Word DOCX documents. Highlight or strike out text, draw shapes, stamp watermarks and images, and attach threaded comments — then save the result back to DOCX.

Learn more