3 Methods to Insert Date or Time into Your Word Document

In the following article, we will talk about 3 different ways to insert date or time into your Word document.

It happens quite often that you have to work on a Word document for several days. Chances are each time, you may have to type date or time in the document manually to mark your operation. Certainly, typing by yourself all the time may not be a huge task. Yet, there are clever tricks to help you smooth your work and find out more capability of Word as well.

Method 1: Insert a “Date Picker Content Control”

At the very beginning, you have to know that by default, Word does not place “Developer” option on the “Menu Bar”. Thus using this way requires you to add “Developer” option to the “Menu Bar” first. And as for how to add it,please read another article: How to Insert Background Music into Your Word Document

 

1. First and foremost, click “Developer”.
2. Then click “Date Picker Content Control” in “Controls” group.
3. Now click the drop-down button on the control.
4. Next you can see the calendar. Just click “Today”.
   
5. Then go to click “Properties” in “Controls” group.
6. Now the “Content Control Properties” dialog box pops up. Type a name in the “Title” text box. For instance, here we type “Date”.
7. Next, choose a display style.
8. At last, click “OK” to save the change.

Next time, when you finish working on this document, just click the drop-down button on the control and always choose “Today”, so you can update it.

Method 2: Use Keyboard Shortcuts

Way to Insert a Date:

1. Firstly, press “Alt+ Shift+ D” to get a date.
2. Then click the date.
3. Click “Update” or press “F9” to update the date.

Way to insert Time

1. Still firstly press “Alt+ Shift+ T” to get the time.
   
2. Click it.
3. Press “F9” to update.

Method 3: Use “Date& Time” Option

1. First of all, click “Insert”.
2. Then click “Date& Time” option in “Text” group.
3. Now in “Date and Time” dialog box, choose a display style first.
4. Next, check “Update automatically” box.
5. Finally, click “OK”.
6. To update it, you have to click it first.
7. Then click “Update” or press “F9” to carry out the performance.

How to Stop Update

In case you finish your document and don’t need to update time and date, you can absolutely stop it by using following solutions:

For method 1:

1. First thing, right click the date.
2. Then choose “Remove Content Control” option.
   

And for method 2 and 3, you just press “Ctrl+ Shift+ F9”.

Comparison of 3 Methods

Methods	Advantages	Disadvantages
Insert a “Date Picker Content Control”	1.         You can pick any date from the drop-down calendar instead of inputting manually. 2.         The date picked is always valid. 3.         DON’T need to remember any keyboard shortcuts. 4.         More controls when inserting the date .	1.         Not convenient since we need to switch to “Developer” section and select the control accordingly. 2.         Can only insert a date, not time. 3.         Cannot update to current date automatically.
Use Keyboard Shortcuts	1.         Very convenient since we can insert with keyboard shortcuts. 2.         Can insert both date and time. 3.         The date/time inserted by Word is always valid. 4.         Can update to current date automatically or press “F9” to update manually.	1.         Only used for inserting the current date/time. 2.         User may modify the date/time manually and input invalid date/time. 3.         Need to remember keyboard shortcuts. 4.         No control on the date/time displayed unless we use complex field codes.
Use “Date& Time” Option	1.         Can insert both date and time. 2.         The date/time inserted by Word is always valid. 3.         Can update to current date automatically or press “F9” to update manually. 4.         More controls when inserting the date and time.	1.         Only used for inserting the current date/time. 2.         User may modify the date/time manually and input invalid date/time. 3.         Not convenient since we need to switch to “Insert” section and select the “Date & Time” accordingly.

Recover Lost Word Files

It’s not uncommon to lost data while working with Word yet it’s certainly not a pleasant experience, but fear not. Nowadays we have so many powerful recovery tools to repair word. So just choose one to get your file back.

Author Introduction:

Vera Chen is a data recovery expert in DataNumen, Inc., which is the world leader in data recovery technologies, including excel recovery and pdf repair software products. For more information visit www.datanumen.com