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: Grabbing the MRU List.

Grabbing the MRU List

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 26, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Word allows you to maintain a list of the most-recently used (MRU) files. This list can record the names of the most recently opened and edited within Word. You can see the MRU list at the bottom of the File menu.

If you want to grab the names of the MRU files and insert those names in a document, you can use the following VBA macro:

Sub MostRecent()
    Dim J As Integer

    For J = 1 To RecentFiles.Count
        Selection.TypeText Text:=RecentFiles(J).Name
        Selection.TypeParagraph
    Next J
End Sub

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 (1457) 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: Grabbing the MRU List.

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...

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