Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Putting a Different Date in a Header.

Putting a Different Date in a Header

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 21, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Adding the current date to the header of a worksheet is easy—Excel provides a dialog box where you can specify the placement of the date and use the '&[date]' coding to actually insert the date. But what if you want to insert yesterday's date or tomorrow's date into the header?

That's not nearly as easy. In fact, you can't do it without using a macro. Perhaps the most flexible approach is to write the macro so that it updates the date just before the worksheet is printed, as shown in the following:

Private Sub Workbook_BeforePrint(Cancel As Boolean)
  ActiveSheet.PageSetup.CenterHeader = _
    Format(Date - 1, "mmmm d, yyyy")
End Sub

The macro places yesterday's date into the center of the header; you can easily change the CenterHeader property of one of the other available header locations (LeftHeader or RightHeader). You can also change the macro to insert tomorrow's date by changing the "- 1" to "+ 1".

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3377) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Putting a Different Date in a Header.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Combining Word Documents

At some point you may want to insert one Word document inside another Word document. An easy way to do this is to use the ...

Discover More

Inserting the Subject in Your Document

One of the properties you can specify for a document is a subject. You can then use a field code to insert this subject, ...

Discover More

Checking for Missing Quotation Marks

Word provides handy spelling and grammar checkers. The grammar checker won't catch everything, however. One thing it ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Header and Footer Data Codes

When creating headers and footers in an Excel worksheet, you can use special codes to add or format information. This tip ...

Discover More

Ampersands in Headers and Footers

Add an ampersand to the text in a header or footer and you may be surprised that the ampersand disappears on your ...

Discover More

Using a Different Footer on Secondary Pages

When printing a worksheet, you may want to have the footer different on the first page of your document than it is on ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 8 - 4?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.