Finding Where the Current Document is Saved

Peyton often has several copies of the same Word document on his system, using the same filename but stored in different folders. He wonders how he can tell from inside Word itself where the document file is located so that he doesn't confuse the document on which he's working.

There are a wide variety of methods you can use to get the info you want. The easiest method—at least, if you only need to know the information once in a while—is to press F12. This is the keyboard shortcut for Save As, so you'll very quickly see the Save As dialog box. The important thing, though, is that the default location offered in the Save As dialog box is the folder in which the existing file is currently saved. Once you procure the location information, just press Esc and you are back to your document.

Another method is to just click on the File tab of the ribbon. In the resulting screen you can see the most recent files on which you've worked. You can right-click on any of them and choose to copy the file's path to the Clipboard.

Another method is similar to the last one, except that after you click on the File tab of the ribbon you should then choose Info at the left side of the screen. The filename is displayed in large blue letters and the path where it is stored is just underneath the filename. Under the path you'll see various buttons that allow you to copy the path to the Clipboard or even open the folder in which the file is located.

A fourth method is especially helpful if you need to know the location information quite often. Follow these steps:

1. Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 and later versions display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
2. At the left of the dialog box click Customize (Word 2007) or Quick Access Toolbar (Word 2010 and later versions).
3. In the list of Categories, select Commands Not in the Ribbon. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Quick Access Toolbar area of the Word Options dialog box.

4. Scroll through the long list of commands and select "Address [Document Location]" from the list.
5. Click Add. The command now appears on the right side of the dialog box.
6. Click on Close to dismiss the Word Options dialog box.

The tool shows the path of whatever document is open. Be aware, though, that this tool is an actual address box, like in a web browser. Thus, you could enter an address for a file or web resource and use the box to pull them up. Without direct intervention from you, however, the address will be the path of the open document.

Another approach is to use a field to determine the path to the document. This is done in many documents to, perhaps, add the document address to the header or footer of each page. All you need to do is to use a field such as this:

{ filename \p \* mergeformat }

Enter the field braces by pressing Ctrl+F9, then type the field code between the braces. When done, make sure the insertion point is within the field and press F9 to update it.

Finally, you can create a simple one-line macro to display the location of the active document:

Sub DFP()
    MsgBox ActiveDocument.Path
End Sub

You can add the macro to the Quick Access Toolbar or give it a keyboard shortcut so you can call it up quickly, as needed.

Like I said, there are lots of approaches you can use to find out the address of your document. You'll want to try the various options discussed so far, and understand that what you see may vary a bit between methods. This is particularly true if your documents are stored on a cloud service such as OneDrive. Some approaches may return a traditional file path, others a network path, and still others a URL. So, pay attention to what you see and use the method that works best for you.

In closing, there is one other approach you can use: Change how you name your documents. If you make sure that you don't have documents with the same name in different folders, then you remove the potential problem that Payton is facing. For instance, you could append something to the filename that indicates a date, a version, or an audience. This may take a bit of thinking through, but it means you don't really need to check file locations to avoid possible problems.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11628) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021.