Converting All DATE Fields to Text

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 9, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021

Kristen has a document that uses fields extensively. A lot (but not all) of those fields are DATE fields. She can convert each field to text manually using Ctrl+Shift+F9, but she would like a way to convert all of the DATE fields at once without disturbing the other fields.

The easiest way to do this is to use a macro. Fortunately, Word makes all the fields in a document available in the Fields collection, and you can use your macro to step through each of those. Here's an example:

Sub UnlinkDateFields()
    Dim aField As Field
    Dim lNum As Long

    lNum = 0
    For Each aField In ActiveDocument.Fields
        If Left(Trim(aField.Code), 4) = "DATE" Then
            aField.Unlink
            lNum = lNum + 1
        End If
    Next aField
    MsgBox lNum & " DATE fields converted to text"
End Sub

Note that the .Code property of the field is examined, which is what you see when you look at the field code within your document. If the left four characters of the .Code property is equal to "DATE", then the .Unlink method is invoked, which converts the field to text. The macro keeps a count of how many fields were converted and then, when finished, displays a message box that shows the total.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6016) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021.

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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What is four minus 0?

2023-12-11 10:10:02

Andrew

Instead of -- Left(Trim(aField.Code), 4) = "DATE" --
why not check for -- aField.Type = wdFieldDate?

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