What is the DWT file format?
.dwt is a website template file created with Adobe Dreamweaver. A .dwt file is a plain text file - stored as HTML with Dreamweaver-specific comment directives - that defines a template for website layout. Based on a single template, users can create many web pages sharing the same overall design. Creating a template requires some initial work, but building pages from it is a matter of adding customized content to the predefined editable regions.
.dwt files must be stored in the Templates/ subfolder of a Dreamweaver site; moving them outside that folder breaks site-relative paths in all derived pages.
Uses of templates
A finished .dwt template should not be edited arbitrarily once pages have been derived from it - changes saved to the template propagate automatically to all linked HTML pages. Each element in the template is marked as either editable or non-editable using special comment tags: <!-- TemplateBeginEditable name="..." --> and <!-- TemplateEndEditable -->. Only editable regions in a derived page can be modified; those are typically text fields or image placeholders. Templates allow for layout reuse and significantly decrease website creation time.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWDWT files are plain HTML with comment markers; they carry no executable content and are safe to open in a text or HTML editor. As with any HTML, an untrusted DWT could theoretically include malicious JavaScript, but standard browser/editor defenses apply. The main practical risk is opening an AutoCAD DWT (binary CAD format) in an HTML editor and confusing its content.
Format details
in a nutshell- AutoCAD Drawing Template - Autodesk AutoCAD uses .dwt for drawing template files (pre-configured CAD drawings with layers/blocks/styles); a completely different binary format documented in the DWG KB.
- DeskWorks Project Template (legacy) - Some older desktop publishing tools used .dwt for project templates; rare and obsolete.
Programs that open DWT files
Windows4 apps
Adobe Dreamweaver
Paid Open the DWT from the Templates folder in the Files panel; Dreamweaver shows the locked regions grayed out and lets you edit the template layout. 
Notepad
Open-source Open the DWT; set language to HTML for syntax highlighting. Good for quick inspection of the HTML structure. 
Visual Studio Code
Open-source Open as a plain HTML file - VS Code shows syntax highlighting; the Dreamweaver comment markers are visible in the source but VS Code does not enforce template locking. 
Adobe Creative Cloud (Dreamweaver)
Paid Dreamweaver is available through a Creative Cloud subscription. 
macOS3 apps
Visual Studio Code
Open-source Open as HTML; works for inspection and editing of the raw template markup. 
Linux1 app
Visual Studio Code
Open-source Open as HTML for editing; no Dreamweaver template semantics - edit the raw markup. Technical details
deep spec| Encoding | Plain text, UTF-8 or legacy charset declared in the HTML meta tag |
| Editable region open tag | <!-- TemplateBeginEditable name="..." --> HTML comment directive |
| Editable region close tag | <!-- TemplateEndEditable --> HTML comment directive |
| Parameter directive | <!-- TemplateParam --> defines template-level variables passed to derived pages |
| Storage location | Must reside in the Templates/ subfolder of the Dreamweaver site root |
| Derived-page marker | Derived pages begin with <!-- InstanceBegin template="..." --> comment |
| Locking enforcement | Editable/locked logic enforced by Dreamweaver only; not enforced by browsers or other editors |
| Propagation | Saving a modified .dwt updates all derived HTML pages linked to the template |
| Related output | Derived pages are standard .htm / .html files readable by any browser |
| Developer | Adobe Systems (originally Macromedia Dreamweaver, introduced 1997) |
| MIME type | application/x-dreamweaver-template (also text/html for generic handling) |
| Released | 1997 (Macromedia Dreamweaver 1.0) |
| Latest version | Used through Adobe Dreamweaver 2021 and later (no versioned format change) |
| Specification | helpx.adobe.com |
DWT conversions
Community Q&A
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