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: Searching for Styles.

Searching for Styles

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 6, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

If you use defined styles in your documents, Word has a very powerful search capability that allows you to find not just text, but defined styles, as well. To search for defined styles, follow these steps:

Press Ctrl+F to display the Find tab of the Find and Replace dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

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

Make sure the Find What box is empty.
Click on the More button if it is available.
Click on the No Formatting button, if it is enabled.
Click on the Format button and select Style. The Find Style dialog box appears. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2. The Find Style dialog box.

Select the style for which you want to search.
Click on OK.
Click on Find Next.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (78) 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: Searching for Styles.

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...

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