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: Inserting the Date Your Document was Last Saved.

Inserting the Date Your Document was Last Saved

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 21, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Every time you save a document in Word, some of the document properties information is automatically updated. Part of the information is the date on which the document was last saved. You can insert this date into your documents and have it updated automatically, if you so desire. To insert the last date your document was saved in your document, follow these steps:

  1. Position the insertion point where you want the date to appear.
  2. Choose Field from the Insert menu. You will see the Field dialog box.
  3. Choose Date and Time from the field categories at the left of the dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  4. Figure 1. The Field dialog box.

  5. Select SaveDate from the field list at the right side of the dialog box.
  6. Click on Options to select a date format, if desired.
  7. Click on OK to insert the field.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1196) 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: Inserting the Date Your Document was Last Saved.

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. ...

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