Word in square brackets

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Looking to construct a matrix or use square brackets in a formula? Having to make changes to a direct quotation? Find out here how to insert square brackets in Word for Windows and Mac in both text and equations.

First, How to Break Shaken Bread

Dry and crisp Schüttelbrot popular in South Tyrol and parts of Austria is never cut.

If, in fact, you try to cut the aromatic rye bread, you’ll quickly discover there’s not much point in trying.

Literally shaken bread (from schütteln, to shake, and Brot, bread), the flat round loaves are placed upside down on the table instead. You’ll find that you don’t even have to shake then; firmly pressing down in it is enough to produce artistically shaped pieces that go formidably with speck and mountain cheese.

Now, need to “break” something in a quotation? Press firmly on the following keys to insert square brackets for just that purpose in Word:

How to Insert Square Brackets in Word

Add Square Brackets Using the Word Symbol Dialog

To add square brackets using the Symbol dialog in Microsoft Word for Mac or Windows:

1. Go to the Insert tab on the Word ribbon.
2. Select Symbol | More Symbols… (Windows) or Symbol | Advanced Symbols (Mac) in the ribbon’s Symbols section.
3. Go to the Symbols tab.
4. Select (normal text) for the Font:.
5. Find [ immediately after Z, and ] following not far behind.
   Subset: On Windows, you can select Basic Latin as the Subset: to navigate quickly.
6. Double-click the square bracket characters to insert them.

How to Insert Square Brackets in Word Equations

To use square brackets in formulae and equations (for matrices, for instance) with Word for Windows and Word for Mac:

1. Go to the Insert tab on the ribbon.
2. Select Equation in the Symbols section.
   Word keyboard shortcut: You can also press Control = (Mac) or Alt = (Windows) to start composing an equation.
3. Make sure the Equation tab is active on the ribbon.
4. Insert regular square brackets (for vectors, for instance) using the Bracket menu in the ribbon.
   Using the keyboard: Inserting brackets with the keyboard (as above) also works here.
5. Insert square brackets for matrices using Matrix | Matrices with Brackets and Sparces Matrices in the ribbon.
   Don’t use the keyboard: Adding a matrix to brackets inserted with the keyboard does not work as you cannot properly stretch the square brackets’ height to match the matrix.
   

Word for iOS and Android: While you can add new equations and see formulae, you cannot add new matrices or edit existing matrices with square brackets.

Word Online at Office.com: In Word Online, you can see existing equations but not edit them or add new ones.

Edit Matrices

To change the formatting and size of a bracketed matrix in Word:

• Click any cell with the right mouse button and select Insert | Insert… from the context menu to add columns or rows.
• Right-click and select Delete | Delete… to remove columns or rows from the matrix.
• Select a matrix (using the three-dots handle in its top left corner), then right-click it and select Stretch Brackets so it is enabled.

How to Insert Square Brackets in Word: FAQ

How can I remove square brackets from an equation in Word?

To remove square brackets from a matrix in a Word equation:

1. Highlight the matrix with the three dots handle in its top left corner.
2. Click on the highlighted matrix with the right mouse button.
3. Select Remove Enclosing Characters from the context menu.
   Just one bracket: Use Remove Opening Bracket and Remove Closing Bracket to delete just one half of the square brackets.

Delete square brackets not part of a matrix using the Del or Backspace keys.

How to Insert Square Brackets in LaTeX

In LaTeX, you can insert square brackets in text and single-line mathematics just so: [ and ].

To insert square brackets so they automatically expand with the height of the mathematical expression, use left and right immediately before them.

Example

A_{3times3} =
left[
  begin{array}{ccc}
    a_{11} & a_{12} & a_{13} \
    a_{21} & a_{22} & a_{23} \
    a_{31} & a_{32} & a_{33}
  end{array}
right]

results in this:

A3×3=

a11
a12
a13

a21
a22
a23

a31
a32
a33

(as reproduced using HTML) or

(as an image).

Amsmath, of course, also lets you construct matrices.

Not in Word: Note that Word’s equation editor, even set to LaTeX, will not let you set up matrices with the code above.

(How to insert square brackets in Word tested with Word for Microsoft 365 Version 2112; updated November 2022)

Home » Useful Tech » How to Insert Square Brackets in Word

My husband wanted to select a long column of text and find any text that was inside square brackets and reformat it so that the text — and the square brackets — was 4 pt and blue (no, I don’t know why either…).

This is an ideal job for using wildcards in Word’s find and replace. However, square brackets are special characters in wildcard searches, so they have to be treated differently. With some help from http://word.mvps.org/faqs/general/usingwildcards.htm and a bit of trial and error, I figured it out. I explain what all the settings mean after these steps, if you’re interested. Meantime, here’s my solution, which works in all versions of Word:

1. Select the text you want to change (e.g. entire document, selected paragraphs, selected columns or rows of a table).
2. Press Ctrl+H to open the Find and Replace dialog box.
3. Click the More button.
4. Select the Use wildcards check box.
5. Put your cursor into the Find what field.
6. Type the following exactly (or copy it from here): ([)(*)(])
7. Go to the Replace with field and type: 123
8. Click the Format button, and select Font.
9. On the Font dialog box change the settings to what you want — in my husband’s case, this was 4 pt and blue — then click OK. Your Find and Replace dialog box should now look like this:

   

   Find and reformat text inside square brackets

10. Click Replace All.
11. Once all replacements have been made, check that you got what you expected before making further changes to the document. If it’s all OK, save your document with the new changes.

What it all means

The three elements of the Find are:

1. ([) — You need to find a specific character (the opening square bracket), so you need to enclose it in parentheses. However, because the square brackets are special wildcard characters in their own right, you need to tell Word to treat them as normal text characters and not as special characters, so you put in a backslash ‘‘ (also known as an ‘escape’ character) before the [.
2. (*) — This tells Word to look for any characters after the opening square bracket. There’s no limit on what sort of characters (alpha, numeric, or symbols) Word is to find, or on how many there are.
3. (]) — This tells Word to stop the find at the first closing square bracket it finds after an opening square bracket followed by any other characters. As with the opening square bracket (1. above), the closing square bracket is a special wildcard character, so needs a backslash in front of it for Word to treat it as ordinary text, and it needs to be enclosed in parentheses as it’s an exact match you want.

There are no spaces between any of these elements — the aim is to find a string such as [green frog] and replace it with exactly the same text but formatted in a different color and with a difference font size.

The three elements of the Replace are:

1. 1 — Tells Word to replace the first element of the Find with what was in the Find (the opening square bracket).
2. 2 — Tells Word to replace the second element of the Find with the same text as what was found. In other words, keep the exact text as was found, but change it’s font size and color.
3. 3 — Tells Word to replace the third element of the Find with what was in the Find (the closing square bracket).

As with the Find elements, there are no spaces between these elements. You still want [green frog], not [ green frog ].

See also:

• Replace text in quotes with bold: https://cybertext.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/word-2003-replac-text-in-quotes-with-bold-text/
• Replace excess spaces: https://cybertext.wordpress.com/2009/01/11/word-replace-excess-spaces/
• Find and replace any number of spaces: https://cybertext.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/word-find-and-replace-any-number-of-spaces/
• Change the number of spaces after a period: https://cybertext.wordpress.com/2009/01/23/word-change-the-spaces-after-a-period/

[Links last checked June 2011]

Brackets are symbols that we use to contain «extra information», or information that is not part of the main content. Brackets always come in pairs—an «opening» bracket before the extra information, and a «closing» bracket after it. There are two main types of bracket: round () and square []. British English and American English define them differently, as you see below.

Round Brackets or Parentheses

Round brackets are basically used to add extra information to a sentence. Look at these examples:

1. explain or clarify
• Tony Blair (the former British prime minister) resigned from office in 2007.
2. indicate plural or singular
• Please leave your mobile telephone(s) at the door.
3. add a personal comment
• Many people love parties (I don’t).
4. define abbreviations
   • The matter will be decided by the IOC (International Olympic Committee).

Some grammarians believe that (whenever possible) we should use commas.
Some grammarians believe that, whenever possible, we should use commas.

Square Brackets or Brackets

We typically use square brackets when we want to modify another person’s words. Here, we want to make it clear that the modification has been made by us, not by the original writer. For example:

1. to add clarification:
   • The witness said: «He [the policeman] hit me.»
2. to add information:
   • The two teams in the finals of the first FIFA Football World Cup were both from South America [Uruguay and Argentina].
3. to add missing words:
   • It is [a] good question.
4. to add editorial or authorial comment:
   • They will not be present [my emphasis].
5. to modify a direct quotation:
   • He «love[s] driving.» (The original words were «I love driving.»)

We also sometimes use square brackets for nesting, for example:

• Square brackets can also be nested (using square brackets [like these] inside round brackets).

When writers insert or alter words in a direct quotation, square brackets—[ ]—are placed around the change. The brackets, always used in pairs, enclose words intended to clarify meaning, provide a brief explanation, or to help integrate the quote into the writer’s sentence.

Does a period go inside quotation marks or outside quotation marks?

Punctuating Around Quotation Marks

Why do periods go inside quotation marks?

The point of conventions is that they provide common tools for understanding, so if you are preparing material in a British context, follow British rules. But if you are preparing a paper for a class or for publication in the United States, place periods and commas inside quotation marks.

Do periods go inside or outside parentheses?

The period is a strong punctuation mark—think of it as controlling the action in the sentence, which occurs outside the parentheses. 2. When a whole sentence falls inside parentheses, the period goes inside. Correct: (Several other courses were offered, but they were not as popular.)

How do you get square brackets?

To type the brackets, pinky finger is used at difficult positions. Some involves holding Shift key. To type parenthesis ( ) you use ring finger and pinky, stretching a distance of 2 rows above. To type square brackets [ ] you use pinky, stretching a distance of 1 row above and 1 column to right.

How do you use brackets?

Brackets (parentheses) are punctuation marks used within a sentence to include information that is not essential to the main point. Information within parentheses is usually supplementary; were it removed, the meaning of the sentence would remain unchanged.

How do you get brackets on your phone?

Tap either of the square bracket buttons, which are located on the right end of the top row of buttons, to type a square bracket into your text box.

How do you get curly brackets on keyboard?

On English keyboards, the open bracket and close bracket are on the same key as the [ and ] (square bracket) keys close to the Enter key. To get a curly bracket, press and hold the Shift key, then press the { or } key.

What are the swirly brackets called?

Curly brackets { and }, also known as curly braces (UK and US) or simply braces, flower brackets (India) and squiggly brackets (colloquially), are rarely used in prose and have no widely accepted use in formal writing, but may be used to mark words or sentences that should be taken as a group, to avoid confusion when …

How do I make square brackets in Word?

How to Insert Matrix Square Brackets in Word Documents

1. Click the “Insert” tab on the ribbon, then click “Shapes” and select the left bracket from the “Basic Shapes” section to display a symbol that looks like a black cross.
2. Drag down and left to expand the symbol. Repeat the process to add the right bracket.
3. Tip.

How do I show curly brackets in HTML?

8 Answers

1. You could also use or whatever tag, just add ng-non-bindable – Mike Pugh Jun 1 ’13 at 1:46.
2. what if the {{value}} is inside of an input tag value? –
3. @TimoHuovinen, to output curly braces in an HTML attribute see my answer. –

How do you escape curly braces in Java?

How to replace string inside curly brackets

1. Use replace function. In this case do not escape curly brackets.
2. Use replaceAll function. In this case escape curly brackets because replaceAll uses regular expression.
3. Use java.text.MessageFormat class if string to replace is like {0}, {1}, {2}

How do I get rid of brackets in Word?

In Microsoft Word, click the File tab, then go into Options. Select Advanced and use the scroll bar at the right side of the window to scroll down to the Show documen tcontent section. Uncheck the Show crop marks checkbox. Click OK.

How do you type angle brackets?

How do you type angle brackets?

1. Hold down the ALT key and type 12297 on the keypad. Note: alt code greater than 255 are not universal and will only work in applications that support them such as Wordpad or Words.
2. Hold down the Command and Option keys while you press T. This will display the Character Palette.
3. 〉 or 〉

How do you insert a 3 by 3 matrix in Word?

Create a 4×4 matrix in Word

1. and then, when the Equation tab appears on the ribbon, expand the Matrix dropdown and then click on the 3 x 3 matrix.
2. To increase the number of dimensions of the matrix, select one of its elements and right click and then left click on Insert and select the appropriate entry.

How do you write a matrix?

To enter a matrix, use commas on the same row, and semicolons to separate columns.

How do you make a 4×4 matrix in Word?

Steps to insert 4 x 4 or larger matrix in Word using equation editor shortcut are

1. Get Equation Editor: Use keyboard shortcut “Alt + =”
2. Equation Editor Shortcut: Type “[/matrix(@@@&&&)]” to get 4 x 4 matrix. Number of @ and & describes size of matrix.

How do I write a matrix in Word?

How to insert an equation with matrix

1. Create your own equation.
2. On the Equation Tools Design tab, in the Structures group, click the Script button:
3. In the base box of script enter F and in the lower right box of script:
4. Enter =.
5. On the Equation Tools Design tab, in the Structures group, click the Bracket button.

Square brackets on the keyboard to find

Other brackets and special characters in Word find

As far as I can tell, the changes in the versions of ISO690Nmerical.xsl available from the web only affect Citations (surrounding the author list with square brackets).

If you want to modify the Bibliography so that you get references numbered «[1]» etc. instead of «1.» etc., then what you need to do is
find and open the .xsl file (you can use Notepad), and if you have not already make a copy, save a copy. Here, with Word 2016 from Office 365 on Windows 10, it was in

C:UsersinstallerAppDataRoamingMicrosoftBibliographyStyle

Then , it depends on whether you are using the original ISO690.xsl or ISO690Nmerical.xsl that came with Word, or the one which came from BibWord, which is structured very differently.

(If it is the ISO690Nmerical.xsl that came with Word, if you search for 1029 you should find some code that displays a title in Czech (I’m just jumping to a conclusion based on your sample text). You could usefully modify that display title. But what you really need to look for is

string-length(normalize-space($BibReference))

You should then see some XSL that looks something like this:

<xsl:if test="string-length(normalize-space($BibReference)) > 0">
  <xsl:value-of select="b:RefOrder"/>
  <xsl:call-template name="templ_prop_Dot"/><xsl:call-template name="templ_prop_Space"/>
  <xsl:copy-of select="$BibReference"/>
</xsl:if>

You need to change that so it looks like this:

<!--change reference to look like [1] rather than 1.-->
<xsl:if test="string-length(normalize-space($BibReference)) > 0">
  <xsl:text>[</xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="b:RefOrder"/><xsl:text>]</xsl:text>
  <xsl:call-template name="templ_prop_Space"/>
  <xsl:copy-of select="$BibReference"/>
</xsl:if>

Save the .xsl, change your bibliographic style to something else and back again, then see if your results are updated.

If it’s one of the other .xsl s, it may be different. I don’t have time to check right now, but have a look and see what you can find out.