Is there way to notify by email when word file is opened

Question

I want to know when and possibly where my .doc file is opened. If document is copied from my PC and opened on another PC I want to email me on which PC document is opened.

Answer 1

Here is a potential solution, however, there are still many variables at play that can prevent an email being sent. The below VBA is inserted in the Document_Open event handler. The method is sending an email through the Outlook application so the user who opens the file would need to have that installed too.

Option Explicit

Private Sub Document_Open()
    
    'only run when others open
    If Application.userName <> "My Name" Then
        
        With Application
            .ScreenUpdating = False
            .DisplayAlerts = False
        End With
        
        Dim outApp As Object
        Dim outMail As Object
        Dim strBody As String
        Dim userName As String
        
        
        Set outApp = CreateObject("Outlook.Application")
        Set outMail = outApp.createitem(0)
        
        userName = Application.userName
        strBody = userName & " has opened my file"
        
        With outMail
            .To = "[email protected]"
            .CC = ""
            .BCC = ""
            .Subject = "My file has been opened"
            .Body = strBody
            '.Display
            .Send
        End With
        
        Set outMail = Nothing
        Set outApp = Nothing
        
        With Application
            .ScreenUpdating = True
            .DisplayAlerts = True
        End With
    End If
    
End Sub

The above runs smoothly but I end up with a security warning on my laptop (I am not sure if this is true across everyone else's). However, hopefully this gives you a starting point for you to tinker with to get the complete results.