Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007 and 2010. 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: Erratic Behavior of Ctrl+PgDn.

Erratic Behavior of Ctrl+PgDn

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 11, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007 and 2010


10

Want to see something interesting? Try these steps:

  1. Start Word from scratch.
  2. Load a document that has multiple pages in it, preferably three or more.
  3. Press Ctrl+PgDn. Word should jump to the top of each page in the document.
  4. Press Ctrl+Home to go to the top of the document.
  5. Press Ctrl+F to display the Find tab of the Find and Replace dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  6. Figure 1. The Find tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.

  7. In the Find What box, enter a word that you know there are several of in your document. (Usually a word such as "the" works great.)
  8. Click on Find Next. Word should find the next occurrence of the word you entered in step 6.
  9. Press Esc to get rid of the Find and Replace dialog box.
  10. Press Ctrl+Home to go to the top of the document.
  11. Press Ctrl+PgDn. Word should jump to the next occurrence of the word you entered in step 6.

Did you notice how the same shortcut key (Ctrl+PgDn) worked differently in steps 3 and 10? This may seem odd to you, but there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for it. (Remember—this is a feature of Word, not a quirk or a bug. :>))

One of the features of Word that is often overlooked is called the Object Browser. When you first start a session with Word, the default browsing mode is to browse by page. But Word's Object Browser works with a variety of objects, not just the tops of pages. You can see which objects are available for browsing by clicking on the Object Browser tool, which is the small "dot" near the bottom of the vertical scroll bar, or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Home. (See Figure 2.) In the resulting palette of objects you can pick from twelve different options. Once you do, the Previous and Next buttons (which surround the Object Browser tool near the bottom of the vertical scrollbar) and the Ctrl+PgUp and Ctrl+PgDn shortcut keys now browse for those objects.

Figure 2. The Browser controls in Word.

One of the objects for which you can use the Object Browser is Find. When you choose Find from the Object Browser palette, Word displays the Find tab of the Find and Replace dialog box, just as if you had pressed Ctrl+F. Doing a find operation in this manner resets the Object Browser so that Ctrl+PgUp and Ctrl+PgDn now find previous and next occurrences of whatever you searched for.

As an interesting aside, pay particular attention to the color of the Previous and Next buttons that surround the Object Browser tool. If the buttons are black, then the Object Browser is set to Page, which means that Ctrl+PgUp and Ctrl+PgDn will jump to the tops of pages. If the buttons are blue, then the Object Browser is set to some other type of object, and the two shortcut keys will only find whatever object has been selected. (See Figure 3.)

Figure 3. The Browser controls change color.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12195) applies to Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Erratic Behavior of Ctrl+PgDn.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Protecting Headers and Footers

If you don't want the information in a header of footer to be changed by users of your document, there are a couple of ...

Discover More

Setting Print Quality

When printing information in a workbook, you may want to take advantage of the different print quality settings available ...

Discover More

Sorting within a Chart

When creating a chart based on data in a worksheet, you may want to sort the information in the chart without rearranging ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Selecting a Text Block

Word has an interesting way of allowing you to select a rectangular block of text, without reference to what may be ...

Discover More

Checking for Matching Parentheses

There are lots of little "gotchas" that can make the difference between a finished document and a polished document. One ...

Discover More

Transposing Two Characters

If you have two characters in the wrong order, you might be interested in a shortcut you can use to switch their order. ...

Discover More
Subscribe

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.

What is five more than 3?

2019-09-02 13:01:30

Martín

Dear Allen,

Hi and thanks so much for this article. This is such a specific topic, and you addressed it so simply and clearly. I have a quick question: With my version of Word (2013), I cannot see the double arrows and circle. I see that I can just go to the Find and Replace dialog and do it from there, but, is there a way to retrieve that element on my interface for quicker access? Cheers!


2017-02-27 09:05:18

Lodewijk Olthof

Hi Allen,

Do you know how this works in Word 2016? In your situation you can make Ctrl+PgDn go to the next page after Find with the Browser control in figure 3. But where is that in Word 2016?

Lodewijk


2016-05-10 11:43:17

Mary Mix

For Word 2013, is there a way to get the browser button back onto the right scroll bar (like in the 2010 version)? Word 2010 also had a feature where you could go to section breaks easily... which disappeared in the 2013 version.

Any suggestions or hints on how to get those useful tools back?


2016-05-10 07:44:37

Thomas Redd

It seems to me that the Object Browser has been dropped in Word 2016. I used to use it a lot. Is there a setting that will restore The Object Browser to my view in the bottom right scroll bar?


2016-05-10 07:31:24

Eldad

I use Word for Mac. It's not quite as robust as the Windows version, and has its own variations on some of the Windows functions (as do Excel and PowerPoint). Can you include Mac ideosyncrasies as you go through your routine commentaries?



2013-10-04 09:35:10

Terry

that's nice and all, but when you KNOW all the keyboard shortcuts and you're flying through a document, you don't need a shortcut to constantly change. CtrlF does find, all the time. Is there a way to do Next Page with a keyboard shortcut that DOESN't change? like just PgDn, PgUp, can that be reset somewhere?


2012-10-15 12:37:52

Dr. Bartolo

You do realise that Ctrl+F does not normally show the Find dialogue box in Office 2010? Instead it brings up the navigation pane. In my case I already use Alt+F (to insert a footnote), so I have assigned this function to Alt+Ctrl+Shift+F.


2012-10-13 11:21:16

Juan

How interesting, a very well-saved secret!


2012-10-13 10:49:33

Saikat Rudra

Quite revealing !


2012-10-13 04:34:17

Surendera M. Bhanot

Great. How blinded we are. Couldn't ever think of this.


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.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.