Insert date and time in Word

Experiments here suggest that the "long date" default (the second in the list in the Insert->Date and Time dialog box) won't pick up a new format from Control Panel's regional options until you have selected a different default format. 

Here, the following worked:

a. In Control Panel, set up the long date format that you want.

b. In Word, bring up the Insert->Date and Time dialog box. Make sure that the language whose format you want to change (English US ?) is showing in the dropdown. It won't if the insertion point is at a location whose proofing language is set to something else such as English (UK), although in that case I think you will be able to select English (US) in the drop down and then proceed.

c. Select a different format from the "Saturday, December 08, 2012" format

d. Click the "Set as Default" button

e. Click "Yes" in the dialog that appears

f. In the Date and Time dialog box, click Cancel

g. click the Insert->Date and Time dialog box again and select the language you want in the dropdown.

If you see the format you want in the list, select it and redo (d) and (e). If you don't, this approach has failed.

Word does keep your default date/time settings in the Office area in the WIndows registry, and it does not appear to impose new settings made in Control Panel (which are stored elsewhere) until you change the default in Word.

It's interesting that for US English, the control panel default is actually the same as the "initial" long date default in the Word dialog ("dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy") but for UK English (say), the default in Control Panel is set to "dd MMMM yyyy". The equivalent of the US long format is set to "dddd, dd MMMM yyyy", i.e. Word prepends a "dddd, ". Indeed, if you actually change the US long format to (say) "ddd, MMMM dd, yyyy" in control panel, in Word you will see "dddd, " prepended so you get the rather unhelpful "dddd, ddd, MMMM dd, yyyy"

Peter,

Ding, ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!!  I looks like you are right.  I can confirm the behaviour here.  Thanks.

TVM for the confirmation, Greg. Let's hope it works for the OP.

BTW, the way Word constructs the various options is quite interesting (in a geekish sort of way). I haven't been through all of it, but roughly speaking for a locale that would typically use "Western Dates" it looks like

Entry 1 is the Control Panel Short Date

Entry 2 is the Control Panel Long Date with "dddd," at the front if there isn't already a dddd in the COntrol Panel format

Entry 3 is the Control Panel Long Date without "dddd," if it is there

Entry 4 re-uses seems to use the Short Date "d" format and the separator after it, if any, the Short Date "M" format and the separator after that, if any, and "yyyy" if the Short Date "y" format is "yy", or "yy" if the Short Date format has "yyyy". That's all in the sequence in the Short Date, e.g. if the Short Date has y;M;d

the format would be yyyyM;d . But I'm not sure about that. Entry 4 disappears altogether if you omit a year from the short date format, and similar rules apply for some other entries.

Entry 5 is fixed

Entry 6 is fixed

Entry 7 also re-uses the day and month elements from the Control Panel Short Date, but I haven't looked at the details yet.

Entry 8 is fixed

Entry 9 is fixed

Entry 10 uses the month element from the Control Panel Long Date

Entry 11 is fixed

Entry 12 is fixed

Entry 13 is the Control Panel Short Date & a space & the Control Panel Long Time

Entry 14 is fixed (AM/PM come from the Control Panel values

Entries 15-17 are fixed, expect for the separator, which comes from the first separator in the Control Panel Long Time.

But I have become slightly bog-eyed working that lot out and it really needs to be checked.

Peter, It worked!!!! Wow, never thought I'd get that thing to work properly.  Thanks so much and thank you to Greg as well for all the time and effort you put in, God bless you.

Glad it's sorted now.