Searching for White Space

Word allows you to search not just for text, but also for special characters that normally do not print. Word even provides a shorthand character to search for white space. White space is any combination of spaces, tabs, paragraph marks, newline characters, and breaks. In short, it is most non-printing characters.

To search for white space, follow these steps:

1. Press Ctrl+F. Word displays the Find tab of the Find and Replace dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
2. In the Find What box, enter the text for which you want to search. To search for white space, enter ^w (it is important to use a lowercase w).
3. Set other searching parameters, as desired.
4. Click your mouse on Find Next.

Word then finds the first occurrence of white space. Remember that this includes any non-printing characters.