Replacing without Automatically Finding

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 8, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365

Shlomit uses InDesign more than he uses Word, and some of the behavioral differences between the two are rather frustrating to him. For instance, in InDesign, Shlomit can use Find and Replace to replace something without automatically advancing to the next occurrence of what he is finding. This allows him to visually look at the replacement just made to make sure there are no problems. In Word, when he clicks Replace in the Find and Replace dialog box, Word makes the replacement, but automatically finds the next occurrence. So, if Shlomit wants to check what was just done, he has to go back (sometimes many pages) to find the replacement point. This is very frustrating to him, so he wonders if there is a way to make Word not do the next find after he clicks on Replace.

There is, unfortunately, no setting or way to do this in Word; the behavior is native to InDesign, but not to Word. There is a workaround, which may allow you to accomplish what you want, but it is clunky, at best.

Click Replace in the Find and Replace dialog box, as normal.
Immediately hit the Esc key, which closes the Find and Replace dialog box.
Press Shift+F5. This causes Word to return to the place where the previous edit was performed. (The place at which the replacement was made.)
Once you are satisfied with the replacement, press Ctrl+H, which again displays the Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.
Click Find Next.

This brings you to the next suggested replacement, where you can continue moving forward with your editing.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13580) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365.

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. Learn more about Allen...

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