Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Using Search Text in the Replacement.

Using Search Text in the Replacement

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 12, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

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. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.

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.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (16) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Using Search Text in the Replacement.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Full Path Names in Headers or Footers

Using a macro to add the full path name into a header or footer in an Excel worksheet.

Discover More

Flipping Data

Have you ever spent a lot of time putting information into a worksheet, only to realize that you should have put it in ...

Discover More

Strikethrough Shortcut Key

One common type of formatting is strikethrough, which is normally applied from the Font dialog box. There is no built-in ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2021 or Microsoft 365. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word Step by Step today!

More WordTips (menu)

Initiating a New Search

I do a lot of searching in my documents. Sometimes the searches may not go exactly as I expected. Here are some things I ...

Discover More

Specifying a Number of Matches

The wild card searching capabilities of Word are amazing. One thing you can do with wild cards is to specify not only a ...

Discover More

Quicker Multiple Replace Operations

Need to replace a lot of the same characters very, very quickly? Here's a great way to do the replacement.

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is two minus 0?

2020-08-27 10:52:20

Robert A. Uzenoff

Thank you for this tip (^&). I did not find it anywhere in pretty lengthy Google searching/

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.