Erin Wright Writing

Writing-Related Software Tutorials

How to Add an Updating Date and Time in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac)

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This tutorial shows how to add an automatically updating date and time in Microsoft Word. First, we will look at how to do so in the text. Then, we will add an updating date and time to the header or footer. Lastly, the Pro Tip at the end shows how to manually update the date and time.

Table of Contents

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The images below are from Word for Microsoft 365. These steps also apply to Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac (a.k.a., Word for Mac), Word 2021, Word 2019, and Word 2016.

How to Add an Updating Date and Time in the Text

  1. Place your cursor in the text where you would like to insert the date and time.
  2. Select the Insert tab in the ribbon.
Insert tab in Word 365
Figure 1. Insert tab
  1. Select Date & Time in the Text group.
Date & Time button in the Insert tab in Word 365
Figure 2. Date & Time button
  1. Select a format from the Date and Time dialog box.
Available formats in the Date and Time dialog box in Word 365
Figure 3. Available date and time formats
  1. Ensure that Update automatically is checked.
Update automatically option in the Date and Time dialog box in Word 365
Figure 4. Update automatically option
  1. Select the OK button.
OK button in the Date and Time dialog box in Word 365
Figure 5. OK button

The date and time should be inserted into your document.

Date and time inserted in text in Word 365
Figure 6. Date and time inserted in text.
  1. Save your file.

When you or someone else opens the document, the date and time should update to match the computer operating system’s date and time.

For a full tutorial about headers and footers, please see “How to Insert Headers and Footers in Microsoft Word.”
  1. Double-click in the header or footer area to open the Header & Footer tab.
  2. Select Date & Time in the Insert group.
Date & Time button in the Header & Footer tab in Word 365
Figure 7. Date & Time button in the Header & Footer tab
  1. Select a format from the Date and Time dialog box (see figure 3).
  2. Ensure that Update automatically is checked (see figure 4).
  3. Select the OK button (see figure 5).

The date and time should be inserted into the header or footer.

  1. (Optional) Select the Home tab and then use the alignment buttons to realign the date and time to the center or right side.
Center and Align Right buttons in the Home tab in Word 365
Figure 8. Center and Align Right buttons
  1. Double-click outside of the header or footer area to close the Header & Footer tab and return to the regular text.

Pro Tip: How to Manually Update the Date and Time

The date and time won’t continuously update while the document is open. It will only update when the document is saved and then reopened.

However, you can manually update the date and time at any time by selecting it and then selecting the Update button.

Date and Time Update button in Word 365
Figure 9. Update button

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