Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 8, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
Let's say that you work for a company and that your job is to prepare reports or press releases that will be distributed the next day. On every one of these documents you need to make sure that tomorrow's date appears. After doing this for a while, you may start searching about for a way to automatically insert tomorrow's date into a new document. It would be even better if this automatic feature could be included as part of a template. Thus, when you create a new document based on the template, it automatically has tomorrow's date in the proper place.
Your first inclination might be to simply change the system date that is on your computer. If you increase the system date by one day, then by being out of kilter with the rest of the world by one day, you can easily insert the date you need. While this would do the job, it will definitely affect all other uses of the date on that system, as well.
There is a relatively easy solution within Word, however. The following macro, when saved in the template using the name AutoNew, replaces a bookmark called MyDate with tomorrow's date. The cool thing about the macro is that it doesn't just insert a date at the beginning of the file, but gives you control over the exact placement anywhere within the file.
Sub AutoNew() With ActiveDocument.Bookmarks("MyDate").Range .InsertBefore Format(Date + 1, "dd mmmm yyyy") End With End Sub
The format in which the date appears can be modified by altering the "dd mmmm yyyy" string to achieve the desired format. More information on format strings is available in the online VBA documentation.
To use the macro, all you need to do is make sure that the template includes some text that is bookmarked using the name MyDate. Save the template, and then any new documents you create based on that template will automatically include tomorrow's date in place of the bookmark.
Note:
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1312) 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: Automatically Inserting Tomorrow's Date.
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!
You can use a macro to print to any printer you have defined in Windows. It is good practice, if you are changing which ...
Discover MoreWant to configure Word to do just what you want it to? You can even go so far as to change the actual way in which Word ...
Discover MoreMacros are often used to process documents, resulting in changes of one manner or another. If you need your macro to add ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
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.
Visit the WordTips channel on YouTube
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments