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: Changing Directories in a Macro.

Changing Directories in a Macro

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 27, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


You have learned you can use the MkDir command to create directories, and the RmDir command to delete them. But how do you switch to a directory? VBA uses the ChDir command to do this. The syntax is as follows:

ChDir DirName

where DirName is the full pathname of the directory to which you want to change. If you do not use a string variable to specify the directory name, then DirName must be enclosed in quotes. If the directory name you supply does not exist, the command fails with an error.

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 (3465) 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: Changing Directories in a Macro.

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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