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: Age Calculation with Fields.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 22, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
If you desire, you can use fields to calculate an age. For instance, the field could calculate the number of years between some base date and today's date. The following compound field will do the trick:
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:
{ = INT({ DATE \@ "yyyy" } + { DATE \@ "M" } / 12 +
{ DATE \@ "d" } / 365.25 - YYYYb - Mb / 12 - Db / 365.25) }
As those who are familiar with fields know, each of the braces in this sample represents a new field. In addition, you should replace the YYYYb, Mb, and Db placeholders with the year, month, and day of month for the base date. For instance, if your birthday were 21 June 1959, then you would replace YYYYb with 1959, replace Mb with 6, and Db with 21. When you then calculate the field (by selecting it and pressing F9), it is replaced with a number representing the number of years between the base date and today.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1008) 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: Age Calculation with Fields.
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