Searching for a Document

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 5, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

Beth notes that in Word 2003, if she did not recall the name of a document or where it was filed, she could search for it by specific text that she knew was in the document. She could do this either from the Tools menu or from the Open dialog box. Beth wonders if there is a way to do this in later versions of Word.

The short answer is yes, there is a way. If you display the Open dialog box, you'll see a search box at the upper-right corner. Type in what you want to find, and Word goes to work trying to find documents that match your search criteria. Depending on which version of Word you are using, you may need to click the small icon that looks like a magnifying glass to start the search process.

The longer answer is no, there is not as "full featured" of a search available in Word as there used to be in older versions of the program. Instead, more in-depth searching has been abandoned in Word itself in favor of the search capabilities of Windows. If you haven't used Windows' search capabilities, you may want to check it out. They will out-perform anything you used to be able to do in previous versions of Word.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (7138) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021.

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...

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What is eight minus 6?

2020-09-05 11:05:58

Jane Lawson

For Word 2016, the Search box is only available if you select "This PC" from the options at the left

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