Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 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: Special Characters in Fields.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 22, 2018)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365
When you are using fields in your documents, you may have a need to include the quote mark and the backslash in the field definition. Unfortunately, these characters have special meaning, and may not be interpreted the way you intend. Consider, for example, the following field:
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 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:
{ QUOTE "You should use "Y" or "N" in your response" }
When you use this, you get exactly what you expect: a full phrase (including quote marks) in the field result. Consider the following example, however:
{ FILLIN "You should use "Y" or "N" in your response" }
When this field result is displayed, you see an input box. However, the entire prompt does not appear. You only see the text "You should use " in the input box. Similar problems are manifested when you try to use backslashes with some fields.
To get around the problem, you need to get in the habit of using a backslash before any quote or backslash you want included in the field, as in the following:
{ FILLIN "You should use \"Y\" or \"N\" in your response" }
This approach informs Word that you want the quote marks (or backslashes, if you use \\) displayed as literal characters.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12421) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Special Characters in Fields.
The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!
When you use fields to number items within a document, you may want to add some standard text before each field. There ...
Discover MoreYou can insert several dynamic dates into your document. One you may want is to add the date when the last edit was ...
Discover MoreNeed to know how many words are in your document? You can use the NumWords field to add that statistic, dynamically, to ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
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.
Comments