Adding Many No-Width Optional Breaks

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 23, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2000, 2002, and 2003

Beginning in Word 2000, Microsoft introduced a new character called the no-width optional break. This character has been discussed in other issues of WordTips; for English documents it can be used to wrap long or compound words at non-standard places. For instance, it could be used to add an optional break after a slash character.

If you want to use the no-width optional break in a document that has lots of slashes, you may wonder if there is a way to do a find and replace to add the special character. The short answer is "yes, there is." Follow these steps:

Press Ctrl+H. Word displays the Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.

In the Find What box, enter the slash.
In the Replace With box, enter a slash and then hold down the Alt key as you type 8203 on the numeric keypad. You'll see a little box appear after the slash.
Click Replace All.
Close the Find and Replace dialog box.

Holding down the Alt key as you type 8203 on the numeric keypad inserts the Unicode character for the no-width optional break. After performing all the steps, your document is set to do an optional break after any slash character.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (3903) applies to Microsoft Word 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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

Understanding How Word Stores Paragraph Formatting

Believe it or not, if you know how Word stores paragraph formatting, it can help you in your editing.

Discover More

Counting Values within 10% of a Target

If you need to count the number of values that fall between a lower and upper value, then you can use a number of ...

Discover More

Deleting Everything Except Formulas

Need to get rid of everything in a worksheet except the formulas? It's easier to make this huge change than you think it is.

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Searching for a Specific Field

Fields can be a great boon to document development, as they allow you to insert different types of dynamic information in ...

Discover More

Finding and Deleting Rows

Got a table that contains rows you want to delete? Deleting one or two rows in a table is easy; deleting a bunch of rows ...

Discover More

Find and Replace in a Column or Row

Need to search for information in a table? Word allows you to easily limit your search to an entire column or row, as ...

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 2 + 2?

2022-04-23 14:51:48

Phil Rabichow

Strange. I've tried this in Word 2003 & using Alt+8203 on the numeric keyboard & all it does is insert a rectangle within a rectangle.

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.