Using Date Fields in Microsoft Word

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Calculated Dates

How do I insert a date?

Why does it (not) change when I re-open the document?

This page last revised: Thursday, February 16, 2017. For Versions of Word 97-2016.

Downloadable Menu Add-On for Date fields

The easy (but probably wrong) way to put a date in your document is Insert --> Date and Time.

If you don't check "Update Automatically" it is the same as typing the date yourself (except harder). If you do check
"Update Automatically" it will update when you print (if you have the setting under printer options as "Update Fields"
which is the default). You can manually force an update by putting your insertion point in the date and pressing the
[F9] key.

If you want to put a date in a template that updates to the current date when a document is created based on the
template, or want to change the format or do other things with the date field, you want to use Insert --> Field --> Date
and Time instead. Using the options here, you can either pick a format or type your own characters (called a picture)
for the format. The options for the type of date include:

{ DATE } - The date you are looking at the document. Always today (although it may not show on screen as today
until you update the field).

{ CREATEDATE } - The date the document was created (or saved using Save As).

{ PRINTDATE } - The date the document was last printed.

{ SAVEDATE } - The date the document was last saved.

Note that the braces {} for these, like all field codes, cannot simply be typed. If you want to type a field, you have to
use Ctrl + F9 to insert the braces. You can type the field and switches, select what you typed and press Ctrl + F9 to
make it a field, or you can insert the braces and then type between them.

The above are the field codes that will be inserted for you using Insert --> Field --> Date and Time without using any
options. If you choose options, they can include the following "pictures:"
 Picture Displayed Date

\@ "MMMM d, yyyy" August 1, 2016

\@ "MMM dd, yyyy" Aug 01, 2016

\@ "MM/dd/yy" 08/01/16

\@ "dddd, MMMM d" Tuesday, August 1

\@ "ddd, MMM. d, yyyy" Tue., Aug. 1, 2016

\@ "MM/dd/yy hh:mm:ss am/pm" 08/01/16 10:36:12 PM

\@ "d" \* ordinal 1st

\@ "d" \* ordtext first

\@ "yyyy" \*cardtext two thousand sixteen

\@ "yyyy" \*cardtext \* caps Two Thousand Sixteen

example: { CREATEDATE \@ "MMM dd, yyyy" } = Aug 01, 2016

If you don't like the pictures you are offered, pick the one that is closest to what you want and then modify it in the
Insert Field dialog box (or in the codes themselves using Toggle Field Codes).

You can also break a date into multiple fields. This can be done to use special formatting or if you use the F11 key
(next field) for manually editing. Examples of the former reason:

{ CREATEDATE \@ "dddd" }, the { CREATEDATE \@ "d" \*ordinal } day of { CREATEDATE \@ "MMMM" } in the year
{ CREATEDATE \@ "yyyy" } = Tuesday, the 1st day of August in the year 2016.

This { CREATEDATE \@ "d" \* ordtext \* caps } day of { CREATEDATE \@ "MMMM" }, { CREATEDATE \@ "yyyy" \*
cardtext \* caps } = This First day of August, Two Thousand Sixteen

Remember that fields in headers and footers don't get updated quite as predictably. They work fine with
CREATEDATE but can have the same problem as page numbers (see that topic) with DATE. If you have the date
anywhere in the body of your document, you are best served using a StyleRef field in the header or footer to pick it up
rather than putting a field in the header/footer.

For more on "pictures" and formatting dates see: Fields Switches.

If you are trying to produce a special format for a date in an online formfield, take a look at How to Create Ordinal
(Legal) Dates in Form Fields (KB)

See also Graham Mayor's extensive page on Formatting Microsoft Word Fields with Switches, especially the section
on Date Fields With Ordinals. He (and Macropod) show how to do superscripted ordinals, i.e. 1st or 3rd instead of 1st
or 3rd.

Here is a variation of one of Macropod's fields; go to the original document to copy this as a field. Remember that the
braces { } cannot be simply typed. The paired braces shown are matched by color.

{QUOTE{CREATEDATE \@ "dddd 'the' d"}{IF{=(MOD({={CREATEDATE \@ d}+89},100)>2)*(MOD({=

{CREATEDATE \@ d}+9},10)<3)}= 1 {=MOD({CREATEDATE \@ d},10)-2 \# rd;st;nd} th}{CREATEDATE \@ "' of'
MMMM, yyyy"}}

If you think this is complex, check out calculated dates!

The Legal Toolbars Add-In (free below) gives the following menus which include a toolbar with the
menus shown below. This gives access to a number of these fields in different formatting.

date fields Microsoft Word menu download help

This is a self-documenting global template and includes the following fields in different formats on a menu that can be
used without the rest of the legal toolbar:

You can download a macro-free Add-In that simply inserts a CreateDate field when you press Alt+Shift+D instead of a
Date field.

Once you have created a date field that is in the format you want to use, you can also select it and save it as a
formatted AutoCorrect entry named something like "mydate." See Automated Boilerplate Using Microsoft Word.

Ordinal date in a Content Control?

Greg Maxey wrote a procedure to give an ordinal date with superscripted abbreviations in a Content Control. You can
find it here (post #7).