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: Searching for Paragraph Formatting.

Searching for Paragraph Formatting

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 4, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021

Word has a very powerful search capability that allows you to find not just text but the formatting of text as well. To search for paragraph formatting, follow these steps:

Display the Find tab of the Find and Replace dialog box. (In Word 2007 simply press Ctrl+F. In Word 2010 and later versions, display the Home tab of the ribbon, click the down-arrow next to the Find tool, and then click Advanced Find.)
Make sure the Find What box is empty.
Click on the More button if it is available. (See Figure 1.)

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

Click on the No Formatting button, if it is enabled.
Click on the Format button and select Paragraph. The Find Paragraph dialog box appears.
Select the paragraph attributes for which you want to search. When selecting attributes that use check boxes, a check in a check box means the matching paragraph must have the attribute. If the check box is empty, then the paragraph won't have that attribute. A shaded box means the attribute doesn't matter.
Click on OK.
Click on Find Next.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (971) 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: Searching for Paragraph Formatting.

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

Hiding Outline Symbols

Outline symbols are automatically displayed by Excel when you add subtotals or organize your data using an outline. If ...

Discover More

Page Numbers in VBA

When you print a larger worksheet, Excel breaks the printout across several pages. You may want to know, before you ...

Discover More

Printing the Navigation Pane

The Navigation pane can be a handy tool for seeing the overall organization of your document and easily moving to ...

Discover More

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!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Adding Paragraph Numbering

You may search high and low for a way to add automatic numbers to paragraphs in a document. You won't find the ...

Discover More

Adding a Border around Multiple Paragraphs

Word makes it very easy to apply formatting to the paragraphs in your documents. Some of that formatting may be ...

Discover More

Indenting a Paragraph to the Next Tab Stop

Need to indent an entire paragraph from the left margin? It's easy to do using the tool described in this tip, easily ...

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 4 + 2?

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.