Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. 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: Keeping a Replace Operation Displayed.

Keeping a Replace Operation Displayed

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 30, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365

When Sarra uses the Find and Replace feature in Word and clicks on the Replace button, Word makes the change and automatically moves to the next occurrence of whatever she is searching for. She would like the program to make the change and not move to the next occurrence, but keep visible where the change was made.

If you use the Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box, then there is no way to do this; clicking the Replace button does the replace and automatically displays the next occurrence of whatever you are searching. There is, however, a rather simple workaround. Follow these general steps:

Copy the replacement text to the Clipboard.
Use Ctrl+F to find the first match, then press Esc to get rid of the dialog box. (What you were searching for should still be selected.)
Press Ctrl+V. Word replaces the selected text with the replacement text in the Clipboard.
Press Ctrl+Pg Dn.
Repeat steps 3 and 4 as many times as desired.

This isn't the only workaround, however. You can also follow these similar steps:

Copy the replacement text to the Clipboard.
Use Ctrl+F to find the first match, then press Esc to get rid of the dialog box. (What you were searching for should still be selected.)
Press Ctrl+V. Word replaces the selected text with the replacement text in the Clipboard.
Press Shift+F4 to repeat the last find operation.
Press F4 to repeat the last edit operation.
Repeat steps 4 and 5 as many times as desired.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (10600) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Keeping a Replace Operation Displayed.

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

Spell Checking with Text Boxes

Text boxes are a common design element in a document. You may wonder if the text you place in a text box can be spell ...

Discover More

Saving All Open Workbooks

Wouldn't it be nice to have a single command that would save each of you open workbooks, all at once? It's easy to do ...

Discover More

Changing Table Cell Text Direction

When creating a table, you can turn the orientation of the text, within a cell, by ninety degrees in either direction ...

Discover More

Discover the Power of Microsoft Office This beginner-friendly guide reveals the expert tips and strategies you need to skyrocket your productivity and use Office 365 like a pro. Mastering software like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is essential to be more efficient and advance your career. Simple lessons guide you through every step, providing the knowledge you need to get started. Check out Microsoft Office 365 For Beginners today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Getting Rid of Trailing Spaces in Footnotes and Endnotes

The Find and Replace tool can get rid of trailing spaces in paragraphs quite nicely. If those spaces are at the end of ...

Discover More

Finding Text Using a Specific Highlighting Color

If you use the highlighter tool extensively, you may want to search for text that is highlighted using a particular ...

Discover More

Replacing Just in the Footnotes

When editing a document that contains footnotes, you may want to perform a Find and Replace operation that is limited to ...

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 five 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.