Searching for a Specific Field

Summary: Fields can be a great boon to document development, as they allow you to insert different types of dynamic information in the body of the document. If you want to search for a specific type of field, you can do so using the techniques presented here. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, Word 2003, and Word 2007.)

Other issues of WordTips have featured ways in which you can search for field codes, in general. You may be wondering how you can search for a specific type of field code. You can do it by following these steps:

Make sure field codes are showing in your document. If not, press Alt+F9 to display them.
Press Ctrl+F. Word displays the Find tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.
In the Find What box, type either ^d or ^19. This is the code to find the opening field brace.
Type a space followed by the field name.
If available, click the More button.
Make sure no formatting is being searched for, and that no other check boxes in the dialog box are selected.
Click on Find Next.

As an example, if you wanted to find a DATE field, after following steps 3 and 4, you would be searching for "^d DATE" (without the quote marks, of course).

Tip #1652 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Find and Replace Almost Anything! An invaluable resource for learning how to harness the full power of Word's search and replace capabilities. You'll discover everything you need in order to master all the intricacies of finding and replacing elements of your document, including the super-powerful "wildcard searches" available in Word.

Check out WordTips: Find and Replace today!

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Searching for a Specific Field