Using Search Text in the Replacement

Summary: When you use the Find and Replace tool in Word, you may want to include what you searched for in the replacement text. That's easy to do; just apply the technique described in this tip. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, Word 2003, and Word 2007.)

Word has a very powerful search-and-replace function. There may be times when you want to simply add something to your document in a number of different locations. You can use the search-and-replace feature to help you. For instance, you may want to replace all occurrences of Betty Boop with Ms. Betty Boop, Esq. To do this, follow these steps:

Press Ctrl+H. Word displays the Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
In the Find What box, enter Betty Boop (what you want to search for).
In the Replace With box, enter Ms. ^&, Esq. (Word will use the text in the Find What box—what you entered in step 2—in place of the ^& characters.)
Click on Find Next.
Make replacements as desired.

Tip #16 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

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Using Search Text in the Replacement