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 Date and Time.

Inserting the Date and Time

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 30, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

Undoubtedly, the time will arise when you need to insert the current date or time in your document. This may be in the introduction of a letter or in a header or footer. Word allows you to quickly insert the date or time in several different formats. This information is inserted as a field which can be updated manually or is updated automatically when you print the document.

To insert the date or time into your document, follow these steps:

Position the insertion point where you want the date or time inserted.
Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
Click Date & Time in the Text group. Word displays the Date and Time dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Date and Time dialog box.

Select a format for the date or time.
Select the check box at the bottom of the dialog box if you want the selected date or time to always reflect whatever is current. If you choose this, it means that Word inserts the date or time as a field so that it always represents the current date or time.
Click on OK. The date or time, as specified, is inserted in your document.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (10513) 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 Date and Time.

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

Jumping Between Fields

Need to step through the fields in a document? It's easy using the shortcuts detailed in this tip.

Discover More

Removing Whitespace from Table Cells

Do you have trailing whitespace characters in your table cells? There are several ways you can quickly attempt to remove ...

Discover More

Finding the Size of Individual Worksheets

Your workbooks can contain many, many worksheets. Which of those worksheets are the largest, however? Here's some ideas ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2021 or Microsoft 365. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word Step by Step today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Adding Half Spaces to Punctuation

Want a little more space just before some of your punctuation characters? You can add that spacing in a variety of ways, ...

Discover More

Editing a Document with Many Pages

Working with large or long documents in Word can present some interesting challenges. The most common challenge is that ...

Discover More

Jumping to a Relative Page

When you are navigating around your document, you may find it helpful to jump a certain number of pages either toward 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 seven more than 2?

2021-11-02 16:20:29

Just_Sayin'

Overkill, when all you have to do is have Word record the macro while you do the action, and Word even lets you assign it to a keystroke while you create it?!

2021-11-01 13:32:32

Just_Askin'

In Excel, the very useful shortcut ctrl-; inserts the current date into the current cell. I'm currently writing a journal in Word which requires a date before each entry. Is there any existing shortcut in Word to perform this short of creating a macro and assigning a key-stroke to it? That would seem like overkill.

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.