Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Printing Field Codes.

Printing Field Codes

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 13, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021

If you use fields in your documents to any extent, you may want to print a copy of your document with field codes showing instead of field results. To do this, follow these steps:

Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 and later versions display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
At the left side of the dialog box click Advanced.
Scroll through the available options until you see the Print section. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Print section of the advanced options of the Word Options dialog box.

Make sure the Print Field Codes Instead of Their Values check box is selected.
Click on OK.
Print your document.

If you don't want to print field codes, and instead want the results of those field codes printed, then just make sure in step 4 that the check box is cleared.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6701) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Printing Field Codes.

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

Counting Unique Values with Functions

Using Excel to maintain lists of information is not unusual. When working with the list you may need to determine how ...

Discover More

Saving a Workbook Using Passwords

If you want to protect your workbook so that others cannot open or change the information it contains, an easy way to ...

Discover More

Printing Multiple Label Copies when Merging

Need to print more than one copy of mail-merge labels? There are a number of different approaches you can take to getting ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Inserting a Document's Size

Want to insert the size of your document directly into the document body? You can do so by using one of the dynamic ...

Discover More

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

Maintaining Fields in a Merged Document

When merging documents, you may want to include some fields in the merged documents. For some fields this is impossible, ...

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 four 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 ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.