How to Select a Field in Word

By eHow Computers Editor

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Microsoft Word employs fields to allow users to create templates that they or other users can easily edit or update. Fields are not always conspicuous in an MS Word document, so you sometimes need the ability to find them quickly. Fortunately, you can easily find all the fields in a document using a few simple steps.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Step1

Open in Microsoft Word the document that you want to search. If your document is already open, then you are ready to continue.

Step2

Select the entire document by either clicking on the "Edit" menu and choosing "Select All" or by typing "Ctrl+A" on your keyboard. Doing this highlights everything in the document.

Step3

Toggle the field codes to reveal the raw field formats. To do this, right-click on any portion of the highlighted material and select "Toggle Field Codes." The fields should then show up as bracketed code (for example, "{DATE \*MERGEFORMAT}"). You may have to repeat this step if some or all of the field codes were already visible.

Step4

Start a search by using "Find" in the "Edit" menu, or type "Ctrl+F." You can use Microsoft Word's search capabilities to find any fields in your document.

Step5

Click on the "More" button at the bottom of the search window. This reveals additional search options.

Step6

Choose the "Special" tab by clicking on the button and select "Field." The text box in the search window will then contain the characters "^d" for a field search.

Step7

Do "Find Next" to find the fields in the document. Each time you click this button, Word will select the next field. Repeat this step until you have found all the fields that you're looking for.

Tips & Warnings

Once you perform Step 3, you can also just scan the document looking for the fields, since they are reasonably conspicuous. This approach might be better if you have a short document with just a few fields.