Searching for White Space

Summary: White space permeates our documents, and sometimes you'll need to search for that white space. Word makes it easy to select this special class of information through the use of the Find and Replace feature. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, Word 2003, and Word 2007.)

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:

Press Ctrl+F. Word displays the Find tab of the Find and Replace dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
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).
Set other searching parameters, as desired.
Click your mouse on Find Next.

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

Tip #1813 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Add a Professional Finishing Touch! Word includes great tools that allow you to add professional-grade finishing touches to your documents. You can add indexes, tables of contents, and other special tables by using the detailed information available in this volume.

Check out WordTips: Indexes and Special Tables today!

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Searching for White Space