One of the new features of SharePoint 2010 is Document IDs, which give each document in a site collection its own unique ID. It is possible to have this Document ID added to a Word document stored inside a SharePoint library, making it extremely useful if you need to have a unique identifier printed on each of your Word documents.
It is very easy to do so, follow these simple steps:
- Ensure that Document IDs are activated in your site collection: http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/sharepoint-server-help/enable-and-configure-unique-document-ids-HA101790471.aspx
- To add the Document ID to a Word document in your library, first open the document in Word
- Go to where you want to add the Document ID (header, footer, content), and click on Insert on the ribbon
- Under Quick Parts, Select Document Property, and you get to see a list of possible values. Select Document ID Value
- That’s it! Save the document, and from now onwards it will always contain its Document ID
Short Update: Please remember that Document IDs are assigned by a timer job. That means that they may not be assigned immediately, but that some time may pass until the timer job gets active.