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 in a Header or Footer.

Inserting the Date in a Header or Footer

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 1, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

When creating headers or footers for your document, it is very common to insert the date into them. In this way the date is printed on every page of your document. To insert the date, you can follow these steps:

Choose Header and Footer from the View menu. Word displays the Header and Footer toolbar.
Position the insertion point within the header or footer at the place you want the date to appear.
Click on the Insert Date tool on the Header and Footer toolbar. Word inserts today's date.
Click on Close.

The date inserted in step 3 is the current date, meaning that the date used is dynamic. Today it shows today's date and tomorrow it will show tomorrow's date. When you use the Insert Date tool, Word actually inserts a DATE field into the header or footer. You can see the makeup of the DATE field by simply selecting it in the header or footer and pressing Shift+F9. The field is expanded, and you can make changes to the field, as desired. The Insert Date tool isn't the only way to insert a date in the header or footer, of course. Once you position the insertion point where you want it (step 2 in the above steps), you can choose Date and Time from the Insert menu and select the format you want used for the date.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1420) 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 in a Header or Footer.

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

Displaying Blanks when Summing to Zero

If you use fields to sum the information in your table columns, you might want to display a blank when the sum is zero. ...

Discover More

Word Count in Multiple Selections

Getting a word count for an entire document is easy. What you may not know is that some versions of Word can also provide ...

Discover More

Rounding to Two Significant Digits

Excel provides a variety of functions you can use to round values in any number of ways. It does not, however, provide a ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!

More WordTips (menu)

Inserting a Cross-Reference to the First Style on a Page

A common way to set up a header is to have it refer to the first occurrence of a heading on the page. (Think how the ...

Discover More

Creating Page Footers and Headers

Headers and footers can add a final, professional touch to your printed document. Here's the quick way to add the headers ...

Discover More

Paragraph Numbers in Headers or Footers

If your documents routinely use numbered paragraphs, you may want to place the number of the page's first paragraph in ...

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 4 - 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

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.