Hi I have a date in the bottom footer: dd MMM yyyy HH:mm

When I go to edit the field. I have a field Perform formatting during updates. I don't understand the description. I am not changing any formatting of a document just adding text.



I wan't the date to show the last saved date.

Every time I open the document it is displaying the current time.

Which kind of date field are you using? I'm assuming you selected 'Date'. You need to be using a 'SaveDate' field:

Insert:Quick Parts:Field

And scroll down to select 'SaveDate' from the selection on the left. Then format as you need.


I think you're misreading the checkbox, it says 'Preserve formatting during updates.' This just means that the formatting (e.g. bold/italic/font/etc.) remains the same when the field updates.

Press Alt+F9 to display field codes.
Change DATE to SAVEDATE.
Press Alt+F9 again and then F9.

Using Date Fields in Microsoft Word

Note, that when you save your document, this field does not update immediately. It needs to be updated after the save. Usually that can be done by printing or using print preview.