Five ways to quickly insert dates in a Word document

Five ways to quickly insert dates in a Word document

Method 1: Use the date and Time feature in the Insert tab to insert the current system date.

On the Insert tab, in the Text option group, click the Date and Time button to open the Date and Time dialog box, and in the Available formats list box, select the format that the user wants, as shown in Figure 1. If the user wants to automatically update the time every time you open Word, you can select the Automatic Updates check box at the same time.

Figure 1 Opening the Time and Date dialog box

When the date format setting is complete, click OK, and the current system date is already inserted into the document, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 Document with date inserted

Method 2: Use shortcut keys to insert updated date information

Position the cursor to the date you want to insert, and then press the ALT + Shift + D key combination to insert the current system date into the specified location, as shown in Figure 3. The date can also be updated dynamically, the date inserted is selected, and the "F9" key is pressed to complete the update operation.

If the user wants to insert time information into the document, you can press the ALT + Shift + T key combination and the current system time is displayed in the document.

Shortcut keys completely eliminates the cumbersome manual operation and also avoids potential errors.

Figure 3 Inserting the current time with a shortcut key

Method 3: Use the field to insert the date

On the Insert tab, in the Text option group, execute the document part | field command, and open the Fields dialog box, as shown in Figure 4.

In the Categories Drop-down list, select Date and time, in the Field Name list box, select the date that the user wants, such as document creation date, last saved document date, current time, and so on, and then select the format you want in the Date format list box, and then click OK.