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 the Date Your Document was Last Saved.

Inserting the Date Your Document was Last Saved

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 8, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365

Every time you save a document in Word, some of the document properties information is automatically updated. Part of the information is the date on which the document was last saved. You can insert this date into your documents and have it updated automatically, if you so desire. To insert the last date your document was saved in your document, follow these steps:

Position the insertion point where you want the date to appear.
Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
Click Quick Parts (in the Text group) and then click Fields. Word displays the Field dialog box.
Choose Date and Time from the Categories drop-down list at the left of the dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Field dialog box.

Select SaveDate from the field list at the left side of the dialog box.
Choose a date format from the Field Properties column of the dialog box.
Click on OK to insert the field.

There is an important caveat to remember when it comes to the last date field—it may not always appear to update. This is because Word doesn't typically update fields—any fields—until it absolutely has to. When does that occur? Normally when you go to print the document. So, the SaveDate field will update when you print, and not before. The way around this is to force Word to update the field, which is done by right-clicking it and choosing Update Field from the resulting Context menu.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (9719) 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 the Date Your Document was Last Saved.

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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