Microsoft Word - auto insert date

Years ago, I was able to automatically insert the current date in a Word document by holding down ctrl and hitting the : Has this been changed to another hotkey? Is there a web resource for these type automatic inserts? Unable to locate with google.

 

You could adjust your normal.dot, which is the template Word uses whenever creating a new document. It is located in the directory C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates

where username is the name of the profile you are logging into. If you were to right-click and select open for normal.dot in this folder, you can add the current date by clicking insert -> date and time, and saving. (Make sure you check the box beside "Automatically Update"!) Then, whenever you create a new document, it will have the date.

 

Unsure what version you are using, but this was for Word 2003.
This also modifies the normal.dot as Mada Milty has mentioned:
Tools>Customize>Commands>Keyboard (button)
Highlight Insert (category), highlight Insert datefield (commands)

 

1. Type the first four characters of the current date. For example, type febr for February. Microsoft Word displays the current month: "February."
2. Press ENTER to insert the month, and then type a space. Word displays the current date — for example, "February 13, 2002" or "13 February 2002."
3. Press ENTER to insert the entire date.

Note If the current date is not displayed, you may need to turn on the AutoComplete feature. On the Insert menu, point to AutoText, and then click AutoText. Select the Show AutoComplete suggestions check box.

If you are using windows 2000 XP; this method will not automatically change the date each time you open the document. See previous posts for auto date updating when opening previously dated / saved docs.

 

When I type Febr, it does automatically enter February. I have the Show Autocomplete Suggested box ticked. However, hitting space bar does not proceed to the rest of the date.

 

PS Using Word 2003

 

I realize the reason why now. The current month is May, so the feature does not work for February.

 

You are correct auto text date will not work when back dating ie. entering a date that precedes the current days date.

If I remeber correctly word 2003 does have a short-cut for entering the date however this feature works best if the user memorizes the key board strokes for quicker access.

hold the alt key and the "i" key and release this drops the Insert menu then choose the "t" opening the date format menu and you should memorize the count on the down arrow key to the format you want to insert less key strokes vs typing the date and this will get the current days date to appear on your doc.
OR:
You could short cut this all together if you create a template that includes a date field already inserted.

 

good stuff, thanks!

 

I have encountered a similar problem. When I type in "Dece" I get "December" as an autocomplete option, but when I hit the space bar, I get no further options. Also, when I type in "2006" I get the following as an autocomplete option: "2006-12-27" I am using Word 2002. When I ran Word under Windows ME (I recently upgraded to XP - do not want to rush into anything, you know?), I could type in "Dece" and get "December" and then hit the space bar and get "December 27, 2006"

How do I get it to go back to the way it was (short of uninstalling XP and reinstalling ME)?

Thanks.

 

Print a list of shortcut keys

1. On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Macros
2. In the Macros in box, click Word commands.
3. In the Macro name box, click ListCommands.
4. Click Run.
5. In the List Commands dialog box, click Current menu and keyboard settings.
6. Click OK.
7. On the File menu, click Print.

For additional information on hot keys...access help in mword and type in hot keys...