Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 8, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
It is not unusual to use the Replace function multiple times to replace the same information. For instance, you may have a document that contains quite a few tabs. You can use the Replace function to replace two tabs with a single tab. In this way, you can get rid of the extra tabs. However, if your document contains many, many extra tabs, you can replace 8, 20, or 50 tabs with a single tab.
When you are specifying the number of tabs to replace, it is best to use a multiple of two. For instance, in the Find What box you would enter 4, 8, 16, or 32 tabs, and in the Replace With box you would enter a single tab. Continue selecting the Replace All button until you are informed the requested characters could not be found. Then divide the number of characters in the Find What box by two. Thus, if you had searched for 16 tabs, you would now search for 8. You will only have to click on the Replace All button once then. (Word could not find two groups of 8 in a row—if it did, it would have been replaced by the previous search for 16.) On the next iteration, use only 4, and finally 2 tabs. Basically, you have replaced all the extra tabs in around 4 or 5 operations. This is the fastest possible way to do the iterative search and replace.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1140) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.
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 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!
I do a lot of searching in my documents. Sometimes the searches may not go exactly as I expected. Here are some things I ...
Discover MoreWhen using Find and Replace, how your replacements are formatted will depend on how the text being replaced is formatted. ...
Discover MoreWant a quick, easy way to "search again" for the next occurrence of what you need? Use the technique in this tip and ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2015-02-14 09:12:17
JMJ
Still faster, in the search and replace window,
- check the "generic characters" box
- in the find box, type ^t{1;}
- in the replace box, type ^t
- hit "replace all" and you're done!
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.
Visit the WordTips channel on YouTube
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments