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: Searching for a Specific Field.

Searching for a Specific Field

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 10, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365


Other issues of WordTips have featured ways in which you can search for field codes in general. You may be wondering how you can search for a specific type of field code. You can do it by following these steps in Word 2007:

  1. Make sure field codes (the actual codes, not the results of the codes) are showing in your document. If not, press Alt+F9 to display them.
  2. Press Ctrl+F. Word displays the Find tab of the Find and Replace dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Find tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.

  4. In the Find What box, type either ^d or ^19. This is the code to find the opening field brace.
  5. Type a space followed by the field name.
  6. If available, click the More button.
  7. Make sure no formatting is being searched for, and that no other check boxes in the dialog box are selected.
  8. Click on Find Next.

As an example, if you wanted to find a DATE field, after following steps 3 and 4, you would be searching for "^d DATE" (without the quote marks, of course).

Simple searching in Word 2010 and later versions is different than in earlier versions of Word. You can, if you desire, follow the above steps, but in place of step 2 make sure that you display the Home tab of the ribbon, click the down-arrow next to the Find tool, and then choose Advanced Find. An alternative, though, is to use the simplified Navigation pane:

  1. Make sure field codes are showing in your document. If not, press Alt+F9 to display them.
  2. Press Ctrl+F. Word displays the Navigation pane at the left side of your document.
  3. In the box at the top of the pane, type either ^d or ^19. This is the code to find the opening field brace.
  4. Type a space followed by the field name.

Now the Navigation pane should show all matches for your desired field. Click the one that is the one you want, and Word jumps to that location in the document.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1430) 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: Searching for a Specific Field.

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

Deleting a Header or Footer

When working with existing documents, you may need to delete a header or footer previously created. Here's how you can do ...

Discover More

How Word Treats Normal.dot

Templates are at the core of how Word creates and formats documents. From the earliest days of Word, the most basic of ...

Discover More

Putting the Last Saved Date in a Cell

Do you need a cell in your worksheet to display the date on which the workbook was last saved? This can be a bit tricky, ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Understanding DATE Field Formatting

One of the most commonly used fields is the DATE field. You can specify how the DATE field displays the current date by ...

Discover More

Inserting the User's Address

If you enter your address into Word, you can insert that address anywhere you want in a document by using a single field. ...

Discover More

Forcing the Date to the Next Wednesday

Working with today's date in Word is easy. Trying to manipulate dates to come up with a future one can be an entirely ...

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 7 - 7?

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.

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.