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: Age Calculation with Fields.

Age Calculation with Fields

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 9, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


2

If you desire, you can use fields to calculate an age. For instance, the field could calculate the number of years between some base date and today's date. The following compound field will do the trick:

{ = INT({ DATE \@ "yyyy" } + { DATE \@ "M" } /
12 + { DATE \@ "d" } / 365.25 - YYYYb - Mb / 12 -
Db / 365.25) }

As those who are familiar with fields know, each pair of braces in this sample represents a new field. Thus, to put in the entire compound field, you will need to press Ctrl+F9 a total of four times. This can get a bit complex, as you cannot copy what is shown above and paste it into your document. Instead, you need to type it all in. For instance, here are the first few steps:

  1. Position the insertion point where you want the field to be inserted.
  2. Press Ctrl+F9. This inserts a pair of field braces—your first pair. At this point the insertion point should be positioned between the opening and closing brace.
  3. Type the first few characters, = INT(. You are now ready to put in your second set of field braces.
  4. Press Ctrl+F9. Word adds your second pair of field braces, and the insertion point should be positioned within this second set.
  5. Type the next few characters, DATE \@ "yyyy".
  6. Press the Right Arrow a couple of times to move to the right of the closing brace for your second field.
  7. Type the plus sign (+).

As I said, these are only the first few steps, but it should give you the general idea of how this compound field should be entered—you can't paste it; you must type it. Examine the compound field shown above and note everywhere that a pair of {braces} occurs—those are field braces and MUST be entered by pressing Ctrl+F9, as illustrated in the steps above.

In addition, you should replace the YYYYb, Mb, and Db placeholders with the year, month, and day of month for the base date. For instance, if your birthday were 21 June 1959, then you would replace YYYYb with 1959, replace Mb with 6, and Db with 21.

When you then calculate the compound field (by selecting it all and pressing F9), it is replaced with a number representing the number of years between the base date and today.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (9541) 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: Age Calculation with Fields.

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

How Word Treats Normal.dot

Templates are at the core of how Word creates and formats documents. From the earliest days of Word, the most basic of ...

Discover More

Copying Formulas using a Pattern

Copying formulas from one cell to another is quite intuitive in Excel—unless you want the copied formulas to follow ...

Discover More

Determining the Horizontal Position of the Insertion Point

Need to figure out how far the insertion point is from the left margin? You can do so by using this small macro that ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Forcing the Date to the Next Wednesday

Working with today's date in Word is easy. Trying to manipulate dates to come up with a future one can be an entirely ...

Discover More

Copying and Pasting Field Codes

Want to copy a field code and paste it in some other Windows program? This can be trickier than it sounds. Here's the ...

Discover More

Understanding the COMPARE Field

The COMPARE field is rather esoteric, but it can be helpful when you need to compare two values using fields. The result ...

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 3 - 0?

2024-01-23 05:04:40

Douglas

Does not work.


2022-08-06 15:05:48

JohnB

On my PC (Surface Pro 5) it seems like I have to use CTRL-FN-F9 to open the braces.


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.