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: Deleting Index Entries.

Deleting Index Entries

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 14, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Word provides the tools for you to create complete indexes for your documents. After creating all the index entries, as described in other WordTips, you might decide later to remove an index entry. To do this, follow these general steps:

Make sure you have Word set to display text that is formatted as hidden.
Use Find and Replace (Ctrl+F) to locate the index entry you want to delete.
Select the entire field, including the field braces, and press Del. The index entry is deleted.
Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each entry you want to delete.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (792) 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: Deleting Index Entries.

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

Highlighting Information Using Shading

Need to draw attention to some text in your document? You can do it by applying some fast and easy shading to your text.

Discover More

Creating and Naming a Worksheet Using a Macro

You can use macros to make your common Excel tasks easier and faster. For instance, if you routinely need to create new ...

Discover More

Inserting a Formatted Text Box with a Macro

Macros allow you to do just about anything in Word, but not if you limit yourself to using just the Macro Recorder. This ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Multiple Indexes in a Document

Adding a single index to a document is fairly easy. What if you want to add multiple indexes, however? And what if you ...

Discover More

Chapter Numbers in Indexes and TOAs

Word allows you to define prefixes for page numbers. These are often used for chapter or section numbers in a large ...

Discover More

Creating an Index Entry

In order to create an index, you first need to create the entries that will be used to compile the index. Here's how you ...

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?

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.