Does anyone know how to read the Custom Document properties of a Word document or Excel workbook from VBA without opening the workbook or Word document?

This can be done interactively manually by right-clicking on the file name and selecting Properties | Custom on the dialog box that appears. This does not involve opening the file.

However, does anyone know if there is a way of accomplishing the above without opening the file?

I need to a hierarchical directory tree-walk on a folder that contains many thousands of Excel workbooks and Word documents, looking for specific Custom Document properties. I can do so, if I open and close the files, but this is very long-winded and might not be necessary.

I should say that I use Custom Document properties extensively in Excel.

Any insights would be appreciated. Thank you.