Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 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: Selecting a Field.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 21, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021
When fields are inserted in your documents, you might need to select an entire field in order to edit it. The quickest way to do this is to simply select the first character of the field. If field codes are visible, the first character is the opening left bracket. If field codes are not visible (field results are instead visible), then you simply select the first character of the result.
When you select the first character, the entire field is selected. This type of selection will work whether you are working with displayed field codes or with field results.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11140) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Selecting a Field.
Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2021 or Microsoft 365. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word Step by Step today!
You can create a special header and footer page numbering scheme by using nested fields. This tip shows an example of how ...
Discover MoreAutomatically putting today's date at the top of a report is easy. Putting a different date, automatically, can be more ...
Discover MorePeople don't normally think of using fields to do any calculations. Even so, you can use fields to perform a simple ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2019-09-03 12:55:01
Karen Prieto
Well go figure - I just stumbled upon a workaround:
* An entire field can be selected by placing the insertion point at the end of the field and hitting Backspace.
* From that point, adjacent fields can be selected via Shift+LeftArrow.
Practical application of this is to insert a series of page references all at once via Alt+i, n, r, select & cut the entire chain, then paste them one by one into the desired positions within the text.
Maybe this will help other readers. Insights are welcome!
2019-09-03 12:45:38
Karen Prieto
Hi Allen,
Thanks for this helpful article.
Last I checked, "select entire field" was a grandfathered option buried within Options> Advanced> Layout of modern Word versions. This item appears to be missing from [my copy of] Word 365's Options, and the default behavior selects the field's characters one-by-one just like any other word. I use/modify embedded fields liberally, and abhor using mouse selection, so this is killing me.
Searches for a solution yield no joy and I speculate that the majority of the Microsoft / Internet community is sadly ignorant of this important functionality. If you know of a secret way to force Word 365 to select entire field, I would be eternally grateful (and much less cranky) if you could please share that...
Kp
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.
Visit the WordTips channel on YouTube
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 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:
Comments