Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. 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 September 10, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016

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.

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, and 2016. 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

Automatic Question Numbering

Want to use Word's numbering capabilities to help you number a series of questions? Here's how to accomplish the task as ...

Discover More

Where is Toolbar Customization Information Stored?

When you make a change to one of Excel's toolbars, do you know where that change is stored? This tip explains the name ...

Discover More

No Ribbon on New Documents

The way that you work with commands in Word is primarily through the ribbon. What do you do if the ribbon disappears when ...

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)

Inserting the User's Name

Word keeps track of a name for the person using the program. If you want to add this person's name into the document, ...

Discover More

Inserting the Total Number of Characters in Your Document

One of the things that Word keeps track of regarding your document is the number of characters it contains. Using the ...

Discover More

Inserting a Document's Path

You can use the FILENAME field to insert a document's filename and, optionally, the path to that filename. However, if ...

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 2 + 6?

2022-01-24 12:55:13

Justin

Thank you so much!!! Every other website only could point to toggling the field codes on or off, but my documents were still printing them. This was the solution!

2018-02-27 01:28:59

Jodie

I have a colleague having this problem and have attended to the above but the field codes are still printing out. Is there any other solutions to this issue?

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.