Forcing the Properties Dialog Box to Appear

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 18, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Word automatically saves quite a bit of information about your document, and it allows you to specify and save even more. You normally can see the information saved with a document by choosing Properties from the File menu, which displays the Properties dialog box. The various tabs in the dialog box help organize the range of information kept about any particular document.

Word will, if you so direct it, display the Properties dialog box the first time you save a new document. You can control this feature by following these steps:

Choose Options from the Tools menu. Word displays the Options dialog box.
Make sure the Save tab is displayed. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Save tab of the Options dialog box.

If you want to force word to display the Properties dialog box when first saving a document, make sure the Prompt for Document Properties check box is selected.
Click on OK to close the Options dialog box.

Remember that this configuration of Word only displays the Properties dialog box the first time you save your document. (In this respect, the wording of the Prompt for Document Properties check box is a bit misleading.) If you later want to change properties, you must choose Properties from the File menu to display the dialog box. There is no way to force the Properties dialog box to appear every time you save your document, unless you write a macro that is invoked every time a document is saved.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1819) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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

Returning a Value Based on Text Color

Conditional formatting rules can be used to adjust the way in which information is displayed in Excel, such as the text ...

Discover More

Getting the Name of the Worksheet Into a Cell

Excel allows you to change the names assigned to the worksheets in a workbook. If you want to have those names appear in ...

Discover More

Conditionally Formatting for a Pattern

Conditional formatting is a great tool you can use to customzie your worksheets. When you want to test whether a value in ...

Discover More

Discover the Power of Microsoft Office This beginner-friendly guide reveals the expert tips and strategies you need to skyrocket your productivity and use Office 365 like a pro. Mastering software like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is essential to be more efficient and advance your career. Simple lessons guide you through every step, providing the knowledge you need to get started. Check out Microsoft Office 365 For Beginners today!

More WordTips (menu)

Program Opens without the Desired Document

Double-click a document link in the recent documents list maintained by Windows, and you may be surprised if Word doesn't ...

Discover More

Embedding Your Phone Number in a Document

One way you can designate your responsibility for a document is to add your phone number to it. There is no need to add ...

Discover More

Missing Top and Bottom Margins

You get your document set up just the way you want it, and then notice that all of a sudden Word doesn't show any top or ...

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 two minus 0?

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.