The FILENAME field does not automatically update when you open a document in Word

When you open a document in one of the versions of Microsoft Word that is listed in the "Applies to" section of this article, the FILENAME field (and path if applicable) does not update to the name and the location of the file that you just opened.

This behavior is a design change in Microsoft Word 2002 and later to permit your Word document that contains a FILENAME field to open more quickly.

To work around this behavior, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Update the field manually

To update the field manually, select the field that is contained in your Word document, and then press F9.

Method 2: Create a macro to automatically update the field

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To automatically update the field that is contained in your Word document, create an AutoOpen macro. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start Word and open the document that contains the field that will not update automatically.
2. In Microsoft Office Word 2003 or in Word 2002, on the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Macros.
   
   In Microsoft Office Word 2007, click the Developer tab, and then click Macros in the Code group.
3. In the Macros dialog box, follow these steps:
   1. In the Macro name box, type AutoOpen.
   2. Change the Macros in box to your document file name.
   3. Click Create.
4. In the code sheet of the Microsoft Visual Basic editor, you should now see the beginnings of your AutoOpen macro. For example, you should see the following:

   Sub AutoOpen()
   '
   ' AutoOpen Macro
   ' Macro created date by username
   '
   
   End Sub
   

5. Type, or copy and paste, the following macro code into your AutoOpen macro:

      Dim aStory As Range
      Dim aField As Field
   
      For Each aStory In ActiveDocument.StoryRanges
   
         For Each aField In aStory.Fields
            aField.Update
         Next aField
   
      Next aStory
   

6. Your AutoOpen macro should now look similar to the following example:

   Sub AutoOpen()
   '
   ' AutoOpen Macro
   ' Macro created date by username
   '
   
      Dim aStory As Range
      Dim aField As Field
   
      For Each aStory In ActiveDocument.StoryRanges
   
         For Each aField In aStory.Fields
            aField.Update
         Next aField
   
      Next aStory
   
   End Sub
   

7. On the File menu, click Save Filename.
8. On the File menu, click Close and Return to Microsoft Word.
9. In Word 2003 or Word 2002, on the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Security.
   
   In Word 2007, click the Developer tab, and then click Macro Security in the Code group.
10. In Word 2003 or Word 2002, on the Security Level tab, change your security level to Medium, and then click OK.
    
    In Word 2007, under Macro Settings, click to select the Enable all macros option.
11. Close your document.
12. Reopen your Word document.
13. Click Enable Macros in the Security Warning dialog box.

The field should now update automatically in your Word document.

The FILENAME field will be updated automatically when you switch to print preview or when you print the document.

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about AutoOpen macros, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: