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: Initiating a New Search.
There are times when it is possible to really muck things up when searching for information. This usually happens when you have been searching for text and formatting, and you now want to search for something new. If you don't remember to reset all the search variables, you might never find what you are searching for. To overcome this problem if you are using Word 2007, display the Find tab of the Find and Replace dialog box (press Ctrl+F) and check the following:
If you are using Word 2010 or a later version of Word, then how you handle searching is a bit different. Even so, you should check the same two things. The way you get to these options is to explicitly display the Find and Replace dialog box. There are two ways to do this:
If you still have problems finding what you want, the quickest solution is to exit Word, start the program again, reload the document, and search again.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (9926) 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: Initiating a New Search.
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2015-12-01 18:12:42
Rick G.
In Word 2010 & above, to get to the "Advanced Find" box without the mouse (& without the Navigation pane), you can press Ctrl+H (instead of Ctrl+F).
That puts on the Replace tab and you can do a Find right from there.
Or, if you prefer, you can then press Alt+D to go to the Find tab.
Either way you may want to click on the
[More >>] button to see what Find options are selected. (To do that without the mouse you can press Tab twice & press Enter.)
2015-11-28 04:43:48
Martin Payne
I find the following simple macro on the QAT extremely useful:
Sub ClearFandR()
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = ""
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindAsk
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = False
End With
End Sub
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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: 
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