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: Determining if Overtype Mode is Active.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 30, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021
If you are using a macro that inserts text in a document, you might want to determine if the overtype mode is active. This is the typing mode that results in every keypress replacing an existing character in the file. If you don't check for this, your macro could have undesired results.
The status of overtype is controlled, oddly enough, by the OverType property of the Options object. If the property is True, then overtype mode is active; if it is False, then it is not turned on. The following line of VBA macro code checks the status of the overtype mode and turns it off if it is on.
If Options.OverType Then Options.OverType = False
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WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13266) 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: Determining if Overtype Mode is Active.
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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:
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