Weekly Computer Tip # 366
13 April 2012


add the file name and path to the header or footer
(Word 2003-2010)

Because of Windows 7's improved Search functionality, you might not be struggling as much to find your own or somebody else's documents. But if you are not using Windows 7 as yet or you just want to have some help knowing where things are stored, you might want to add the file name to the header or footer of a Word document. If you want, you can also add the "path", which shows you the folder sequence that leads to the Word document.

Here's how (in Word 2007-2010):

  1. Click on the Header or Footer button in the Header & Footer group on the Insert tab and select Edit Header. Alternatively, (bonus-tip!) simply double-click in the Header area.)
  2. Click on the Quick Parts button in the Insert group on the (Header & Footer Tools) Design tab.
  3. Click on the Field button.
  4. Select the FileName category and click OK.

Here's how (in Word 2003):

  1. On the View menu, click Header and Footer.
  2. To add the file name and path of your document to the footer, click Switch Between Header and Footer.
  3. Click Insert AutoText on the Header and Footer toolbar, and then click Filename and path.

If you don't want to see the file extension (such as .doc or .docx) you will need to change your setting in Windows. (In Windows 7, click the Start button and type Folder Options. In the Folder Options dialog box, on the View tab, under Advanced settings, select the Hide extensions for known file types check box.) With special thanks to Michael O'Shea for the inspiration of this week's tip!

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