Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007 and 2010. 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 Printed.

Inserting the Date Your Document Was Last Printed

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 18, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 2007 and 2010

One of the pieces of information that Word maintains about documents is when they were last printed. Every time you print your document, this piece of information is updated. There may be times when you want to display this "last printed" date in your document. To do this, 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 Field. Word displays the Field dialog box.
Choose Date and Time from the Categories list. Word updates the choices in the Field Names list. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Field dialog box.

Select PrintDate from the Field Names list.
Select a date format from those offered, if desired. (You can also click on the Field Codes button to select a wider range of options.)
Click on OK to insert the field.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6060) applies to Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Inserting the Date Your Document Was Last Printed.

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

Changing Cell Alignment

Individual cells in a table can be aligned any way you desire. As pointed out here, just select the cell and apply the ...

Discover More

Controlling Window Size when Opening Additional Workbooks

When you open multiple workbooks, the way in which Excel sizes them is not the best for your needs. This tip looks at a ...

Discover More

Searching for Special Characters

When using the Find and Replace feature of Word, you can search for more than plain text. You can also search for ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Updating Fields in Locked Forms

Updating form fields in Word can be confusing, especially when the fields are locked in a form. This tips explains why ...

Discover More

Selecting a Field

Do you need to select a field? It is as simple as selecting a single character, as this tip explains.

Discover More

Condensing Figure Caption References

Word can automatically add captions to your figures. You can then reference those captions from within your document. If ...

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 6 + 5?

2020-08-02 21:56:35

Joel

"One of the pieces of information that Word maintains about documents is when they were last printed. Every time you print your document, this piece of information is updated." My documents only update the printing information on rare occasions. I have clicked on the box to update the "last printed" info., but it still doesn't work - even with a new document. Thanks.

2020-03-20 12:45:30

Mikael

Thank you . This is very helpful.

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.