Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Locating the My Documents Folder.

Locating the My Documents Folder

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 2, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

When creating a macro, you may need to know the full path to the user's My Documents folder. The path can differ, based on the system and the user logged into the system. The easiest way to locate it is through the use of the Environ function, as shown here:

MsgBox Environ("userprofile") & "\My Documents"

This code line displays the full path (including the drive letter) in a message box. If you want to have the path assigned to a string variable instead, you can use this code line:

sMyPath = Environ("userprofile") & "\My Documents"

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 (222) 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: Locating the My Documents Folder.

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

Centering a Custom Paper Size on a Piece of Letter-Sized Paper

Sometimes getting your printed output to match your expectations can be a challenge. Such is the case when you want to ...

Discover More

Stopping a Conditional Formatting Rule from Breaking into Smaller Ranges

When you paste information into a row that is conditionally formatted, you may end up messing up the rules applied to ...

Discover More

Expanding a Custom Dictionary

Does Word tell you that your custom dictionary is full? It might not actually be full, but even if it is, you can add ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Repeating In a Macro

Macros are often used to process information stored in documents. Usually the processing involves some sort of iterative ...

Discover More

Turning on Large Icons in a Macro

Word includes the ability to display toolbar icons in two sizes: regular and large. You can turn on the large icons by ...

Discover More

Moving the Insertion Point to the End of a Line

When writing a macro to process the text in a document, you may need to move the insertion point to the end of a line. ...

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 7 - 7?

2017-02-24 16:48:35

Alicia

Hi. I've tried adding the your recommended coding to designate the user's "my documents" path, but I'm having trouble knowing where int he macro to place your String.

Here is what I have, with just the file name.

Selection.InsertFile FileName:="DraftBox.docx", Range:="", _
ConfirmConversions:=False, Link=False, Attachment:=False

Where do I incorporate your coding: sMyPath = Environ("userprofile") & "\My Documents"

Thank you!!

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.