Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. 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 Summary Information.

Inserting Summary Information

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 24, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365

Word keeps track of summary information for a document. You can either use this summary information, or you can ignore it. Some of the summary information is automatically created for you while other parts need to be entered manually. One of the pieces of information maintained is the author of a document. This is originally set to be the Word user name, but you can change the author name at any time. Word allows you to insert summary information such as the author's name directly in your document, and have it updated automatically if you should ever change the information. This is done by following these steps:

Position the insertion point where you want the author's name inserted.
Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
Click the Quick Parts tool (in the Text group) and then choose Field. Word displays the Field dialog box.
From the Categories list select the Document Information category. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Field dialog box.

Choose Author from the Field Names list.
Click on OK.

There are many different bits of summary information you may want to include in your document. Here are a few of the more commonly used pieces of summary information:

Field Name		Description
Author		Name of the document's author
FileName		Document's name and location on disk
FileSize		Size of the document's disk file
LastSavedBy		Word user name of the last person to save the file
NumChars		Total number of characters in the document
NumPages		Total number of pages in the document
NumWords		Total number of words in the document
Subject		Subject of the document
Template		Name of the document's template
Title		Document's title

Each of these pieces of information (and more) can be chosen by selecting the appropriate field from the Field Names list in step 5. You can also insert other information using fields, and you can use the controls in the Field dialog box to discover more about that information.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8799) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Inserting Summary Information.

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

Printing Unwanted Blank Envelopes

When you try to print an envelope in Word, it can be vexing if the envelope always goes through the printer and remains ...

Discover More

Using Alternating Styles

Alternating styles can come in handy when you have to switch between one type of paragraph and another, automatically, as ...

Discover More

Figure Captions Change Incorrectly

Word allows you to easily add captions to your images. You may not always get what you expect, however, when you have ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Controlling Field Shading

If you use fields in your documents, you may want to highlight them in some way so that you can find them easier. Word ...

Discover More

Inserting a Document's File Location

Once you save a document on disk, it is stored in a particular folder (or location) on that disk. You may want that ...

Discover More

Inserting a Page Number Field

The PAGE field is used to indicate the current page number on which the field occurs. If you want to add this field to ...

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 5 - 0?

2022-09-24 17:51:11

LindaWallers

Summary informant is more commonly known as metadata. It may not be all of the metadata that you want, but it is a start.

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.