Word VBA – Macro to Open Word Document

Open Word Document

This Word VBA Macro will open a word document from the specified directory:

Sub OpenDoc()
    Dim strFile As String

    strFile = "c:\Users\Nenad\Desktop\Test PM.docm"    'change to path of your file
    If Dir(strFile) <> "" Then    'First we check if document exists at all at given location
        Documents.Open strFile
    End If
End Sub

Now you can interact with the newly opened document with the ActiveDocument Object. This code will add some text to the document.

ActiveDocument.Range(0, 0).Text = "Add Some Text"

Open Document to Variable

You can also open a Word document, immediately assigning it to a variable:

Sub OpenDoc()
    Dim strFile As String
    Dim oDoc as Document

    strFile = "c:\Users\Nenad\Desktop\Test PM.docm"    'change to path of your file
    If Dir(strFile) <> "" Then    'First we check if document exists at all at given location
        Set oDoc = Documents.Open strFile
    End If
End Sub

Allowing you to interact with the document via the variable oDoc.:

oDoc.Range(0, 0).Text = "Add Some Text"

Generally it’s best practice to open to a variable, giving you the ability to easily reference the document at any point.

Open Word Document From Excel

This VBA procedure will open a Word Document from another MS Office program (ex. Excel):

Sub OpenDocFromExcel()
    Dim wordapp
    Dim strFile As String


    strFile = "c:\Users\Nenad\Desktop\Test PM.docm"
    Set wordapp = CreateObject("word.Application")
    wordapp.Documents.Open strFile
    wordapp.Visible = True
End Sub