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: Ignoring Accented Characters in Searches.

Ignoring Accented Characters in Searches

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 9, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


1

Sheila has many files of French names. Since use of accents varies on the names, she would like to be able to search for names without having to include the accents. Sue is wondering if Word can perform "accent insensitive" searches.

The short answer is no, it cannot. The reason is simple: Word searches for characters, and all the accented characters are individual and distinct characters.

The workaround, of course, is to use ^? (any character) or ^$ (any letter) in the place where the various accented characters may appear in your names. If you choose to do wildcard searches, you can get even more specific in the accented characters you want to include or not include in your searching.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (500) 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: Ignoring Accented Characters in Searches.

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

Word Won't Take 'No' for an Answer

If you choose to exit Word and it asks you if you want to save changes to your Normal.dot template, it can be very ...

Discover More

Using Fractional Number Formats

If you want information to display on the screen using fractions instead of decimals, you're in luck. Excel provides ...

Discover More

Formatting Line Numbers

Legal documents often use automatic line numbering for their documents. If you want to format those line numbers, you can ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Finding Text Not Using a Particular Font

Word makes it easy to find text that uses a particular font or font characteristics. What it doesn't do is make it easy ...

Discover More

Removing All Comments

Need to get rid of all the comments in your document? You can do so by using the regular Find and Replace feature of Word.

Discover More

Saving Find and Replace Operations

Want to repeat the same Find and Replace operation over and over again? Here are a couple of ways you can improve your ...

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 - 3?

2014-07-12 04:43:32

Ada Bondy

I a little confused after windows xp passed away, and now I have to get used to Windows7 I learn everyday something new and I hope that one day I shall master this new Windows as I did the previous one.


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.