Changing the Default File Name

When you save a Word document for the first time, Word typically uses the first paragraph of the document as the suggested file name in the Save As dialog box. In reality, this choice for a default file name is the second choice for Word. It will use your document title as the default file name, provided you have set one.

You can use this information to your benefit by setting the document title in the templates you use to create your documents. For instance, let's say you use a template to create your letters. When you normally save a new letter, Word picks up the default file name from the first paragraph of your letter, which may be your letterhead or the date. If you change the document title in the template to something such as Personal Letter, then Word will use Personal Letter.doc as the suggested file name. This is obviously much closer to how you want the saved file named than if Word had suggested the letterhead or the date. All you need to do is quickly customize the name (to something such as Personal Letter to Bill.doc) in the Save As dialog box.

To set a document title in a template, follow these general steps:

1. Open the template file (it has a .Dot extension).
2. Choose the Properties option from the File menu. This displays the Properties dialog box for the template.
3. Make sure the Summary tab is selected (it should be selected by default). (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Summary tab of the Properties dialog box.

4. Change the contents of the Title field to the default file name you want to use. You do not need to include the .Doc portion of the file name.
5. Click on OK to close the dialog box.
6. Save and close the template.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (964) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Changing the Default File Name.