How do I prevent word from changing the date when a doc is opened.

[chalen]

I opened a report that I received by email. Each time it is opened the date
is changed. How do I prevent this?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Press Alt+F9 to display the field code, which will probably be DATE. Edit
this to read CREATEDATE, then Alt+F9 to toggle back and F9 to update. The
document will now display (and continue to display) the date it was created.
Note, however, that, if you have saved the file on your HD, the date will
likely be the date you did that rather than the original creation date of
the document.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[chalen]

Thanks for the help. Is there a way to set my defaults so that it won't
change dates? When I open it from my email it shows todays date instead of
the creation date. This happens even when I open with out saving.

 

[Graham Mayor]

If you have documents with Date fields they will always display the system
date of the PC. That's what a Date field does.

As Suzanne has already said, what you need to do is change those date fields
for createdate fields - ALT+F9 change {DATE \@ "d MMM yyyy"}or {TIME \@ "d
MMM yyyy"} to {CREATEDATE \@ "d MMM yyyy"} then F9 and ALT+F9 - and change
the date in your letterhead template so that future letters based on it show
the correct dates. The switches \@ "d MMM yyyy" may be different at your
location. You then need to save the file on your hard drive. The file
attached to your e-mail post will always have a Date field, so refer to the
modified version on your hard drive. If this document is something you
regularly receive, tell the person who sent it to make the change before
posting.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[Pesach Shelnitz]

Hi,

Is is, nevertheless, possible to freeze (lock) the content of fields,
including the DATE field. To lock a date (or another field) so that it won't
be updated again, place your cursor within the field and press CTRL+3 or
CTRL+F11. To unlock a field so that it will be updated, place your cursor
within the field and press CTRL+4 or CTRL+SHIFT+F11.

 

[Graham Mayor]

But in order to do that from a document you received by e-mail and have not
created yourself, you are going to have to open the document (which will
update the field) and then save the document to the hard drive. If you don't
do this on the date the original document was created the locked date will
be wrong. For such documents there is no real alternative to changing the
field.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[Pesach Shelnitz]

Hi,

The CREATEDATE is also not necessarily the "correct" date. The OP mentions a
report. A report is often a work in progress, and the date that was in the
document when it was sent could be far different from the date when the
document was created. On the other hand, if the report was sent when it was
completed, I would assume that the date on which the report was received by
e-mail is much closer to the date in the report. In such a case, freezing the
date when the attachment is opened may be the best solution.

I agree that there isn't a fits-all answer to this question, but I think
that there is some value in spreading the word that it is possible to freeze
the date. If the sender had locked the date, there wouldn't have been a
problem.