When you edit text in your document, you will sometimes find that a repeated word or phrase needs to be changed every time it's mentioned. For example, if you need to prepare a report that is very similar to the one that you created last month. Wherever the previous month is mentioned, you must replace it with the current month. MS Word's Find and Replace feature helps you quickly find every occurrence of the previous month and replace it with the current month.
Making these sorts of changes one-by-one may lead to errors in your document. It would be very easy to miss one mention of the month, especially when you are rushed. I find that when I type the same thing over and over, I tend to make mistakes, such as transposing letters or numbers (and she's not lying! ~ Dave).That is why automating the process if a good idea. It keeps you from repetitive tasks and ensures that you complete the task without errors.
Follow the steps below to use the Find command to locate a certain word or phrase and the Replace command to both find it and replace it with alternative text.
- Choose Edit | Find (or press CTRL + F).
This opens the dialog box shown below.
- Type the word or phrase you are searching for and click Find Next.
Two things happen when you use the Find command.
Word reads forward, jumps to the next instance of the word or phrase you are seeking and selects it. Clicking the Find Next button again repeats the command. If you want to change the text, click in the document (while leaving the dialog box open) or click Cancel to remove the dialog box and edit the document.
The double arrows on the Navigator button (just below the vertical scroll bar) change from black to blue. Now when you click them, instead of going to the previous page or the next page, you'll go to the previous or next instance of the text you are seeking with the Find command. This is the quickest way to repeat a Find command.
To replace text follow the steps below:
- Choose Edit | Replace or press CTRL + H. This reveals the same dialog box.
- The trouble with this process is that it may replace items that you do not want to change. To have more control over the process, click the More button to see additional choices in the dialog box.
- Check one or more of the boxes for more specific control over the text that is replaced.
What happens depends on which button you click:
To step through the entire document, deciding each time whether to make the replacement, use Find | Next and Replace.
You can also save time and click Replace All to do the job without having to confirm each one. But if you use this feature, make sure you re-read the entire document to make sure that you do not replace something that should not have been changed.
Carol Bratt is the Office Applications Editor at Daves Computer Tips. She has authored several informative Microsoft Office books and writes the monthly Word Bytes Newsletter with more tips and tricks in each issue. Visit Carol's website for more great Microsoft Office tips and tricks! Click here to see her latest books! You can read more about Carol here.