How to Do a Basic Word Search in MS Word
Microsoft Word includes a search function that makes it easy to search for different elements in a document, including text. Use the basic tool to look for instances of a specific word, or the advanced options to perform tasks such as replace all instances of a word with another one or search for equations. To run a basic search for a specific word or phrase in Word:
Match Case, Whole Words Only, and More
Beyond searching for every instance of a word, you can get more specific about what you want to find. For example, to find whole instances of a word and not every word that contains the letter combination or to find instances of a word that aren’t capitalized.
Press Enter to move to the next result. Select a result with the mouse. Select the Up and Down arrows to move to the previous or next result.
Here’s how to do an advanced search:
Use Advanced Find
Many of the choices available in the Find Options dialog box are also available in Advanced Find. Advanced Find includes the option to replace the text with something new. Based on your selection, Word replaces one instance or all instances at once. You can also replace the formatting, or change the language, paragraph, and tab settings.
Find Instances of Other Elements
Other options in the Navigation pane include searching for equations, tables, graphics, footnotes, endnotes, and comments.
