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: Setting a Default for the Object Browser.

Setting a Default for the Object Browser

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 15, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Nancy uses the Object Browser to look for items in her document, but she gets a bit frustrated with it. When she first starts Word, Ctrl+Page Up jumps up by a page at a time. This happens because the Object Browser is set to browse by page. But if she searches for text and finds it, the Object Brower is then set to browse by whatever she last searched for. This means that Ctrl+Page Up no longer jumps up by a page, but searches for the previous occurrence of the search text. Nancy wonders if there is, perhaps, a way to force the Object Browser to always search for the previous page.

There is no capability to do this in Word. This is because Ctrl+Page Up (and Ctrl+Page Down) aren't really shortcuts to jump to the previous or next page; they are shortcuts to invoke the Browse Previous and Browse Next commands. This means that they are the same as clicking on the previous and next controls in the Object Browser, at the lower-right of any document window.

You can, however, get around this problem by adding two macros to your system. These macros replace the built-in commands that are invoked when you use the previous and next commands in the Object Browser.

Sub BrowsePrev()
    Application.Browser.Target = wdBrowsePage
    Application.Browser.Previous
End Sub
Sub BrowseNext()
    Application.Browser.Target = wdBrowsePage
    Application.Browser.Next
End Sub

Note that these macros cause the Object Browser to revert to browsing by page instead of whatever had been previously selected. The drawback to this approach, however, is that you won't ever be able to use the Object Browser to browse for anything other than pages.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (495) 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: Setting a Default for the Object Browser.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Altering the Displayed Format of Numbers to the Nearest 100

Want information in a worksheet to be formatted and displayed as rounded to a power of ten? You may be out of luck, ...

Discover More

Embedding an Excel Chart in a Word Document

As components of the Microsoft Office suite, one would expect Excel and Word to work together. One of the most common ...

Discover More

Random Numbers in a Range

Excel provides several different functions that you can use to generate random numbers. One of the most useful is the ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Browsing by Heading

The Object Browser can be a great (albeit underused) way of navigating through your document. One handy way to move about ...

Discover More

Redoing an Object Browse

The Object Browser is a great way to search for and navigate through all sorts of objects in your document. Once you use ...

Discover More

Using the Object Browser

Efficiently navigating through a document, particularly as it gets longer, can be a perpetual challenge. One tool you can ...

Discover More
Subscribe

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.

What is 6 - 0?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


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.

Videos
Subscribe

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

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.