Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Inserting the User's Initials.

Inserting the User's Initials

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 10, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

Word automatically maintains several items of information about you, as a user. One such item is your initials, which can be changed in this manner:

Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 or a later version, display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
Make sure that General is selected at the left of the dialog box.
Modify the information in the Initials box, as desired.
Click on OK.

If you want to automatically insert your initials in your documents, you can follow these steps:

Position the insertion point where you want the initials inserted.
Make sure the Insert tab of the ribbon is selected.
In the Text group, click Quick Parts. You'll see a drop-down menu.
Choose Field. Word displays the Field dialog box.
In the Categories drop-down list, choose User Information. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Field dialog box.

In the Field Names list choose UserInitials.
Click on OK to close the dialog box and insert your field.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (5954) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Inserting the User's Initials.

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

Entered Values are Divided by 100

Enter a value into a cell and "poof!" it is automatically divided by 100. What's going on, and how can you fix it so that ...

Discover More

Animated Recalculation in Excel

Excel includes some animation capability that is enabled by default. If the animation is bothersome to you, then you'll ...

Discover More

Date Last Edited

When adding headers or footers to your worksheets, you may want to include the date that the workbook was last edited. ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Quickly Inserting the Date Your Way

Tired of messing with inserting the date and then changing it to a format that is more to your liking? There's a quick ...

Discover More

Referencing Fields in Another Document

Sometimes you may have two documents that are so integrally related to each other that the one document may require the ...

Discover More

Numbering with Sequence Fields

One of the most powerful and versatile fields you can use in Word is the SEQ field. This tip shows how you can use the ...

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 6 + 2?

2021-07-11 18:54:06

Michelle

Hi, regarding track changes and adding user initials - is it at all possible somehow to update the user initials AFTER the edits have been made?

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.