Replacing Long Blocks of Text

Summary: Word has a length limit on what you can find and replace. There is a way around the limit, however. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 6, Word 95, Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, and Word 2003.)

Word has a very powerful search-and-replace function. There may be times when you want to replace short blocks of text with long blocks of text, or when you want to replace text with a non-text item (such as a graphic). To do this, follow these steps:

Copy what you want to use as a replacement to the Clipboard.
Choose Replace from the Edit menu. In Word 97 and later versions, you see the Find and Replace dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.) In Word 95 and earlier, you will see the Replace dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
In the Find What box, enter the text you want replaced.
In the Replace With box, enter ^c. This instructs Word to use the Clipboard contents as the replacement.
Click on Find Next.
Make replacements as desired.

This technique is great if your replacement text contains more than 255 characters, since the contents of the Replace With box must be less than 255 characters.

Tip #21 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

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Replacing Long Blocks of Text