Picking Up in the Last Document Edited

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 16, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

As covered in other issues of WordTips, you can jump to the last place that you edited in a document by pressing the Shift+F5 key. In other words, open the document, press the shortcut, and the insertion point jumps directly to the last edit point in the document.

If you work on the same document quite often, you may like a little macro that opens that last file you worked on, and then automatically jumps to the last edit location in that document.

Sub OpenLastDoc1()
    RecentFiles(1).Open
    Application.GoBack
End Sub

Assign the macro to a shortcut or a toolbar button, and you've got a fast way to continue working wherever you were in your last session with Word. If you prefer, you can make one change to the macro that jumps to the end of the document, rather than to the last place you edited:

Sub OpenLastDoc2()
    RecentFiles(1).Open
    Selection.EndKey Unit:=wdStory
End Sub

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (106) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Making Endnotes Part of the Footnotes

In a document that contains both footnotes and endnotes, you may want to convert your endnotes to footnotes. This tip ...

Discover More

Adding Ampersands to Custom Dictionaries

It appears that Word doesn't allow you to define custom dictionary entries that include ampersands. There are ways you ...

Discover More

Adding a Border around Multiple Paragraphs

Word makes it very easy to apply formatting to the paragraphs in your documents. Some of that formatting may be ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Keeping the Flash Drive Occupied

Working on a document stored on a flash drive can have some unintended consequences. Here's some help in understanding ...

Discover More

Document Size Changes

When you last upgraded Word, did you notice a change in the size of your document files?

Discover More

Renaming a Document

Want to rename a document that is already on your hard drive? You can, of course, do it in Windows, but you can also do ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is seven less than 7?

2016-10-27 18:16:01

Stephen Norman Chase

Allen how can I make my IMac's 2008 MSWord app open with the last edited/used document instead of a blank document each time?

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.