Date field codes in Word problem

Question

I work with Office 2007.  On merging from Excel to Word, the dates appear as dd/mm/yyyy if both the day and month have two digits.  Else it may appear as d/m/yyyy.  The source document in Excel is set up to display as dd/mm/yy.  That option is not available as as a field format in Word.  I get paid to ride such inconsistencies at my work.  BUT I certainly do not need them in OFFICE which I PAY for!  Joking aside, is there a way to get past this and get the date in the dd/mm/yy format even if the day or month number is less than 10?

Unfortunately it is not feasible to format the cells in Excel to a text only format, as that will mess up functions performed in Excel, such as lapses between dates...

Answer 1

You must be signed in to mark a reply as Helpful, and you must be the OP to mark it as the answer. Since you are obviously both, I don't know what the problem is unless perhaps you were trying to mark your own post rather than mine (you can't mark your own post as Helpful or the Answer).

Answer 2

You can define a default "long date" and "short date" format in Windows. These are the formats that will be displayed at the top of the list when you open the Date and Time dialog (Insert | Text | Date and Time), but you can select any other format that is displayed and click Default... to make it the default. If the format you prefer is not shown, then set it as your default short/long date in the Windows Control Panel (Region and Language | Formats).

Answer 3

I wish to mark this as Helpful, but the site blocks me from doing it!!!

Answer 4

Thank you for the answer.  I will do that and also keep your response in my personal Help file.  Do you know what the default setting is in Word?  Can the default be changed?

Answer 5

You need to add a date/time picture switch to the merge field. In this case, that switch would be @ dd/MM/yyyy. See http://wordfaqs.mvps.org/datefields.htm for more.