#1
|
|||
|
|||
Stop the date from changing
Hi,
Can someone please tell me how to stop the previous date in a letter I open from changing to the date I open it. This is causing problems, b/c then I don't have the date I wrote the letter. Thanks Michelle |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
I suspect you may have an included a "today's date" field in your letter instead of a "date created". Word can keep track of both if you ask it nicely :-} as this screenshot of document properties shows.
|
#3
|
||||
|
||||
You can fix this by selecting the errant date, pressing Shift-F9, changing 'DATE' in the field to 'CREATEDATE' and pressing F9 to update the field. This will restore the date the document was first saved - or whenever it was most recently saved via SaveAs and will remain fixed until the next SaveAs is done.
If 'CREATEDATE' doesn't return the date you're after, you might obtain it via 'PRINTDATE' or 'SAVEDATE'. With either of these, though, the date will change whenever the document is reprinted or resaved, respectively. In that case, having updated the field you might want to lock it, via Ctrl-F11, or convert it to text, via Ctrl-Shift-F9. To see how to do just about everything you might want to do with dates in Word, check out my Microsoft Word Date Calculation Tutorial at the top of this forum: https://www.msofficeforums.com/word/...-tutorial.html
__________________
Cheers, Paul Edstein [Fmr MS MVP - Word] |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Thank you.
I just can't believe we can't have the date the letter was first finished. That should be an option one should be able to choose. I guess I'm going to have to manually type it in each & every time as this is just too complicated. Michelle |
#5
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
As noted in my Microsoft Word Date Calculation Tutorial, you can update the CREATEDATE field's date via Save As. That might be sufficient for your 'first finished' date. You can then use the SAVEDATE field to capture/output the date on which the document was last saved and/or the PRINTDATE field to capture/output the date on which the document was last printed. Note that the PRINTDATE field updates every time the document is printed, so it won't do if you're wanting to print the last previous date on which the document was printed; to do that you'd have to lock the field via Ctrl-F11. You can unlock it again afterwards via Ctrl-Shift-F11.
__________________
Cheers, Paul Edstein [Fmr MS MVP - Word] |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
So there should be 2 different options. I never had this issue in Word 2003.
When I'm writing legal documents that have to be printed off weeks after the letter was completed, I need to know what date I finished the letter (this was the last time I opened it) & re-print. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Using Date Fields in Microsoft Word
|
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Alt+Shift+D inserts the DATE field.
You must have inserted your dates using this or incorporated DATE fields in your templates. The AutoComplete function (at least in Word 2010) inserts the text, not a field. Templates in Microsoft Word |
#9
|
||||
|
||||
Since all Word versions are the same in this regard, the only way you wouldn't have had an issue in Word 2003 is if you either didn't use a DATE field or, if you did, you unlinked or locked it at some stage. Fields can be locked via Ctrl-F11 and unlinked via Ctrl-Shift-F9.
Quote:
__________________
Cheers, Paul Edstein [Fmr MS MVP - Word] |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Sorry for the delay, I was moving.
Charles I'll just have to remember to uncode it. I don't use templates. Never learned how & at this point have no time nor need to learn templates. Thanks to you & Paul. Michelle |
#11
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
IMHO anyone making serious use of Word doesn't have the time not to learn how to use them.
__________________
Cheers, Paul Edstein [Fmr MS MVP - Word] |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
I am in my 60's and still learning. I agree completely with Paul. There are a few things in Word that anyone using it for more than casual correspondence needs to learn. This is even more true in the legal environment. I would start with: For legal documents, a good understanding of fields including the date field variations and the SEQ field is very useful. If you use Word more than 20 hours a month, you will recover the time you spend reading these within the first month and save time thereafter. I guarantee it. You have the time; it is your choice how you want to use it. |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Autocomplete date inconsistent
I have a similar problem in Word 2007: the autocomplete function within a normal.dot based document works sometimes, and other times not. I always begin with the current day of the week. Sometimes it completes to the entire date, other times not, within the very same document. I'm not inserting a field at all.
|
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Autocomplete is iffy. This has nothing to do with normal.dotm. There is a an Add-In available (free - no macros) on my Downloads Page called DateLoader Add-In. If placed in your Word Startup Folder the keyboard shortcut Alt+Shift+D will insert a CreateDate field in the format April 6, 2013. |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
I only need each date once, as it will appear in a journal entry for that day. From the description, it seems as though the date will update each time the document opens, which would not serve my need for a date in this document.
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Stop Automatic Date-Update | janetb | Word | 10 | 11-10-2016 12:05 AM |
changing date format in Bibliography field | elly111sk | Word | 3 | 07-25-2012 06:54 PM |
Help! Stop Microsoft word from automatically changing input language | Raphilion | Word | 2 | 06-13-2012 12:31 AM |
Stop Word from changing Folder DATES? | binar | Word | 0 | 08-12-2010 05:53 PM |
Cannot stop the date being printed in the footer | Ubtree | Outlook | 0 | 10-13-2007 11:49 AM |