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: Calculating a Future Date.

Calculating a Future Date

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

If you are creating a macro to do some processing on a document, you may have a need to calculate a date at some point in the future. Using the VBA DateAdd function, this is quite easy. The function has the following syntax:

DateAdd(interval, number, startdate)

The original date that you begin with (typically today's date) is specified by the startdate argument. The interval argument indicates what you want to add to the startdate. For instance, if you want to add days, then interval would be the letter d. (This interval needs to be enclosed within quotes.) There are many different intervals you can specify:

Interval		Meaning
d		Day
ww		Week
m		Month
q		Quarter
yyyy		Year
y		Day of year
w		Weekday
h		Hour
n		Minute
s		Second

Finally, the number argument specifies how many intervals you want to add to the date.

As an example, let's suppose you wanted to know the date that was 90 days in the future. You could use the following:

dFutureDate = DateAdd("d", 90, Date)

When executed, dFutureDate contains the date that is 90 days after today.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12916) 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: Calculating a Future Date.

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

Setting User Information

Need to change the information that Word stores about you? Here's how to find the info.

Discover More

Using the TRUNC Worksheet Function

Want to chop off everything after a certain point in a number? The TRUNC function can help with this need.

Discover More

Creating Selections

Want a really easy way to create a selection of a group of cells? Discover how to use the Extend key to make this task ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Detecting an Open Dialog Box

Macros can be used to perform all sorts of tasks within Word. Some tasks can even occur at whatever time interval you ...

Discover More

Determining a Random Value

If you need to determine a random value in a macro, you can do so using the Rnd function. This tip presents the syntax ...

Discover More

Comparing Strings

When writing a macro, a common task is the need to compare two strings. You can do this by "normalizing" the strings, as ...

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 eight minus 8?

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.