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: Specifying an Index Entry Separator.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 6, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
When you use an index field in your document you can indicate how you want Word to separate the index entry (or subentry) from the page number references or cross-references when it actually creates the index. This is done by adding the \e switch to your index field. You can use up to three characters for the separator, in the following manner:
\e "sep"
where sep represents the characters to use as the separator. For instance, if you use the following index field:
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:
{index \e ": "}
Word, when compiling the index, will translate index entries to the following:
Widgets: 32, 38, 92
Notice that the index entry (Widgets) is separated from the page references by a colon and a space—exactly what was specified after the \e switch.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (794) 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: Specifying an Index Entry Separator.
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