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: Understanding the COMPARE Field.

Understanding the COMPARE Field

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 15, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


One of the fields that Word makes available for automating your documents is the COMPARE field. Most people don't use this field that much because it can be confusing to do so. The entire purpose of the COMPARE field is to do exactly what it says—compare values. All you need to do is provide the two values (along with the comparison operator), and COMPARE will return either a 1 if the comparison is true or a 0 if it is false.

For example, let's say you wanted to compare the contents of a bookmark to see if it was equal to a specific value. If your bookmark name is MyBook, the following COMPARE field will do the trick:

{ COMPARE { MyBook } = "TestText" )

If the bookmark (MyBook) is equal to TestText, then the COMPARE field returns a value of 1 (True). If it is not, then COMPARE returns a value of 0 (False).

As you might imagine, returning a zero or a one, by itself, may not be that valuable of a feature. Where COMPARE comes in handiest is when you use it as an argument for one of the other comparison fields. For instance, you might use COMPARE in conjunction with the IF field to specify conditional text for your document. When used in this way, the value of COMPARE is limited only by your imagination.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13180) 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: Understanding the COMPARE Field.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Transposing Two Characters

If you have two characters in the wrong order, you might be interested in a shortcut you can use to switch their order. ...

Discover More

Spellchecking Words with Superscripts

Adding a superscript to a word is necessary for many types of writing. Doing so, however, can confuse the spell checker ...

Discover More

Remembering a Custom Color

Word allows you to define a custom color when you are working with text or with other elements in your documents. The ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Special Characters in Fields

If you try to add a quote mark or a backslash as part of a field parameter or switch, you may be surprised at what you ...

Discover More

Condensing Figure Caption References

Word can automatically add captions to your figures. You can then reference those captions from within your document. If ...

Discover More

Protecting Fields

Tired of getting the fields in your document overwritten by regular editing tasks? Here's how to make those mistakes more ...

Discover More
Subscribe

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.

What is 9 - 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


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.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.