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 Name.

Inserting the User's Name

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 19, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


When you install Word, you are asked for your name. This information is stored with Word, and you can later access it. For instance, Word allows you to use your name in the return address of an envelope. If you want to automatically insert the user's name in your documents, you can follow these steps:

  1. Position the insertion point where you want the user's name to appear.
  2. Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
  3. Click the Quick Parts tool (in the Text group) and then choose Field. Word displays the Field dialog box.
  4. In the Categories list, choose User Information. (See Figure 1.)
  5. Figure 1. The Field dialog box.

  6. In the Field Names list choose UserName.
  7. Click on OK.

The advantage of using a field to add this information to the document is that it is dynamic. This means that if you change the username in Word itself, the name returned by the field is updated as well.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (9353) 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 Name.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Ignoring Punctuation in Names

If you have a word that includes punctuation as part of the word itself, then you may be frustrated by how Word treats ...

Discover More

Paragraph Numbers in Headers or Footers

If your documents routinely use numbered paragraphs, you may want to place the number of the page's first paragraph in ...

Discover More

Printing Rows Conditionally

Need to only print out certain rows from your data? It's easy to do if you apply the filtering or sorting techniques ...

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)

Standard Text before a Sequence Number

When you use fields to number items within a document, you may want to add some standard text before each field. There ...

Discover More

Generating Dynamic QR Codes

You can use Word to insert QR codes in your document. Things become just a bit trickier, however, if you want to add a QR ...

Discover More

Fields Won't Update when Printing

When you print a document, Word normally performs several steps, one of which is to update any fields contained in the ...

Discover More
Subscribe

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.

What is three less than 4?

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 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.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.