Word select all fields

In today’s article, we are thrilled to present you 3 quick ways to find all fields in your Word document.

By default, the fields we insert into Word document take the same text style as normal one. Therefore, you will find it hard to distinguish them from plain texts. This can leads to accidental editing or deletion of an important field. This article is dedicated to 3 quick workarounds to stand out fields.

Method 1: Alter the “Word Options”

Generally, you can see the gray shading when you hovering cursor over a field. Such shading is like a kind of identification for field. The good news is you can turn it on even the cursor is not over a field.

1. Firstly, click “File” tab.
2. Then click “Options” to open “Word Options” dialog box.
3. Next click “Advanced”.
4. Scroll down to the “Show document content” section. Find the “Field shading” option and choose “Always” instead of the default “When selected”.
5. Lastly, click “OK” to save the change.

You need to be aware that this modification affects globally. Not only fields on this document but all other ones now have field shading.

Method 2: Use “Find” Function

1. First and foremost, press “Alt+ F9” to show all field codes.
2. Next click “Home” tab and click the arrow button behind the “Find” command.
3. On the menu choose “Advanced Find” to trigger the “Find and Replace” dialog box.
4. Put cursor in “Find what” text box and enter “^d” to find all fields.
5. Next click “Find In” and choose “Main Document”.
6. You will see all fields are in selection now. You can choose to highlight them as to stand out.
7. Finally, press “Alt+ F9” to toggle from codes back to text.

Method 3: Highlight All Fields via VBA

1. To begin with, press “Alt+ F11” to quickly open VBA editor.
2. Under “Normal” project, click “Insert” and choose “Module” to create a new one.
3. Next double click to open the module as to bring out the editing area on the right side.
4. Then paste the bellowing codes on the module:

Sub ShowFieldsInDoc()
  Dim objField As Field
  Dim objDoc As Document
  Dim strCodeText As String
 
  Set objDoc = ActiveDocument
 
  With objDoc
    For Each objField In .Fields
      If objField.Type = wdFieldRef Or wdFieldPageRef Then
        objField.Select
        Selection.Range.HighlightColorIndex = wdYellow
      End If
      If objField.Type = wdFieldHyperlink Then
        objField.Select
        Selection.Range.HighlightColorIndex = wdNoHighlight
      End If
    Next objField
  End With
End Sub

1. Last but not the least, click “Run”.

This macro highlight fields in yellow, but leave hyperlinks intact whose default style is easy to recognize enough.

How to Efficiently Recover from Broken Files

Nowadays, it’s not unusual to encounter with docx damage, since we use Word so often to process documents. And you have to understand that being panic or mournful has nothing to do with efficient file recovering. Once file damage occurs, your primary option should be getting a fixing tool.

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Update all fields in a document

1. Press Ctrl + A.
2. Press F9.
3. If your document has tables with fields or formulas, you might need to select each table separately and press F9.

How do I update all fields in Word for Mac?

Updating cross references in word for MAC

1. Right-clicking an individual field & selecting Update Field from the contextual menu.
2. Selecting the field then pressing F9 to update that field.
3. Using Command+A then pressing F9 to update all fields in the document.

How do I update all caption fields?

Click anywhere in the document and press CTRL+A to select the entire document. Right-click, and then choose Update Field on the shortcut menu. All of the captions in the document should now be updated.

How do I update all fields in Word without F9?

To add to what Paul and Charles have said, many fields can be updated if you repaginate the document, which you can do if you switch to Print Preview and then go back to your previous view. You can press Ctrl+F2 (or Ctrl+P) and then ESC.

How do you select all fields in Word?

Put cursor in “Find what” text box and enter “^d” to find all fields. Next click “Find In” and choose “Main Document”. You will see all fields are in selection now. You can choose to highlight them as to stand out.

How do you insert a field that will automatically update in Word?

Insert a date that updates automatically

1. On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Date & Time.
2. In the Date and time dialog box, select the format you want.
3. Select the Update automatically check box. The date is inserted as a field and will update automatically.

How do I edit fields in Word?

1. Right-click the field, and then click Edit Field.
2. Do one of the following: If Field properties and Field options are displayed, select the formatting options that you want. If only the field code is displayed, click Options, and then select the formatting options that you want.

What does Ctrl Shift F9 do in Word?

To do so, select the entire field or expression and press Ctrl + Shift + F9. Word will remove the field code, leaving only the text. If you want to retain the field code, but prevent automatic updates, lock the field by selecting it and pressing Ctrl + F11.

How do you edit a caption in Word?

Editing Caption Style

1. Go to the “Styles” section of the “Home” tab and find “Caption”
2. Right click “Caption” and select “Modify” to open a new window. The “Styles” menu.
3. Pick the font and formatting options required.
4. Click “OK” to apply the new style. Modifying the “Caption” style.

Why is F9 not working in Word?

A hardware problem
The past F9 etc troubles usually include suspecting a Windows / Office bug … but it turned out to be the hardware. In one case it was a BIOS setting for the Function keys which reset the Fn keys on startup.Some keyboards have a Function/Fn shift which could be locked on without your knowledge.

How do you update toggle fields in Word?

To update a single field, select it (or click anywhere in it) and press F9, or right-click the field and choose Update Field. If you have toggled on the display of the field code string, updating the field toggles it back to displaying the results.

To update fields in headers, footers or text boxes:

1. Click in the header, footer or text box.
2. Pess Ctrl + A to select all.
3. Press F9.

How do I turn off update fields in Word 2010?

File>Options>Display and uncheck the “Update fields before printing” may do it. Or, it may be necessary to use Ctrl+A (to select everything) and then Ctrl+F11 to Lock the fields, or Ctrl+Shift+F9 to Unlink them. Hope this helps.

What is Shift F7?

Shift+F7: Open the thesaurus. If you have a word selected when you press this combo, Word opens the thesaurus and looks up the selected word.

What is Alt F11?

Ctrl + Alt + F11 sort of puts the GUI to sleep, and puts you into a virtual terminal mode, something like the old fashion ttys. Once in this mode you can choose between 6 different tty input screens. Each acting like it is an old-fashion tty.

What does Alt F4 do in Word?

Alt + F4 is a Windows keyboard shortcut that completely closes the application you’re using. It differs slightly from Ctrl + F4, which closes the current window of the application you’re viewing. Laptop users may need to press the Fn key in addition to Alt + F4 to use this shortcut.

How do I update all figure numbers in Word?

Instead of searching and replacing all the figure numbers in the text, click “Edit” -> “Select All” (or, Ctrl + A), which select the entire document, then, press “F9”. This updates all the figure number automatically.

How do you update cross references in Word?

To update all references in a document, select Edit – Select All (or press Ctrl A), then press F9 or right-click and select Update Field. You can set Word to always update cross-references before printing your document.

How do you reference a caption in Word?

From the References tab, in the Captions group, select Cross-reference . In the Cross-reference dialog box, select the reference type and other options. In the For which caption section, select the item you want to reference and select Insert .

What is F mode key?

The FnLk, F-Lock key is a toggle key on a PC compatible keyboard used to enable or disable the F1 through F12 keys’ secondary functions (hotkeys).Pressing the F-Lock key again toggles off (disables) the F1-F12 key standard functions, and turns on the ability to use the secondary functions on those keys.

How do I unlock my F keys?

For example, on the keyboard below, the Fn Lock key appears as a secondary action on the Esc key. To enable it, we’d hold Fn and press the Esc key. To disable it, we’d hold Fn and press Esc again. It functions as a toggle just like Caps Lock does.

Insert Fields in a Microsoft Word Document to Display Variable Content

by Avantix Learning Team | Updated January 10, 2021

Applies to: Microsoft^® Word^® 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019 or 365 (Windows)

You can insert built-in or custom fields in Word documents to display variable content that will change when you update the fields. Some fields (like page numbers, merge fields or cross-references) are inserted automatically when you use Microsoft Word features. If you want to insert custom fields, you will need to create custom document properties.

By default, Word displays the result of a field rather than its field codes. You can right-click a field and select Toggle Field Codes to display field codes or field results.

Recommended article: How to Hide Comments in Word (or Display Them)

Do you want to learn more about Microsoft Word? Check out our virtual classroom or live classroom Word courses >

If you are working with fields in Microsoft Word, you will be using quite a few function keys (such as F9). On some laptops, you will need to press the Fn key on your keyboard to enable your function keys. For example, instead of pressing F9 to update a field or fields, you would press Fn + F9.

Inserting built-in fields

To insert a field, click Quick Parts in the Text group on the Insert tab in the Ribbon. The Field command appears in the Quick Parts drop-down menu as follows:

Below is the Field dialog box in Microsoft Word with Page selected:

To insert a built-in field using the Field dialog box:

1. Navigate to the location in the Word document where you want to insert a field.
2. Click the Insert tab in the Ribbon and then click Quick Parts in the Text group. A drop-down menu appears.
3. Select Field. A dialog box appears.
4. In the list of Field names, select a field. You can filter the list by clicking the down arrow in the Categories list and selecting a category first. Select All to display all fields.
5. Under Field properties, select any properties or options you want.
6. To view the codes for a field in the Field box, click Field Codes. For some fields, this button is clicked by default.
7. Ensure that Preserve Formatting During Updates is checked so that formatting you apply is not removed when the fields are updated.
8. Click OK. The field is inserted into the document.

Format the field results by applying text formatting to the field using the Home tab in the Ribbon.

You can view or hide all field codes in your document by pressing Alt + F9. Field codes appear between braces or curly brackets { } and you cannot type these braces. Be sure to hide the field codes again by pressing Alt + F9.

To edit a built-in field in the Field dialog box:

1. Right-click the field and then click Edit Field. A dialog box appears.
2. Change the field properties and options.
3. Click OK.

Understanding Word document properties

There are 3 different types of document properties in Word:

• Standard document properties (also called built-in document properties)
• Custom document properties
• Document library properties

Word documents contain a set of standard document properties such as Title, Author, Keywords and Comments. These properties are used to store metadata about your document. You cannot change the name of standard properties but you can edit the value of some of them (such as Title). Other standard properties that cannot be edited store data that is updated automatically (such as Size or Last Modified).

Document library properties are related to documents that are stored in a document library on a website or in a public folder (such as files in SharePoint).

In addition to the standard properties, you can create your own custom document properties. These properties can be created to store additional information in a document other than the standard document properties.  For example, custom document properties could be created for Product1, Product2, Product3, Sponsor, Project Manager, Cell Phone or Disclaimer. Each custom document property must be assigned a name, a data type and a value. The four data types are Text, Date, Number and Yes or No.

After you create custom document properties for your Word document, you can then insert them as custom fields.

Adding a custom document property

To add a custom document property:

1. Open the Word document in which you want to add a custom document property.
2. Click the File tab in the Ribbon and then click Info on the left. Info is usually selected by default.
3. On the right side of screen, click Properties. A drop-down menu appears.
4. Select Advanced Properties. A dialog box appears.
5. Click the Custom tab in the dialog box.
6. Type a name for the custom document property in the Name box. You can also choose one of the other properties that appear in the drop-down list.
7. Select Text, Date, Number or Yes or No as the data type for the custom property.
8. Enter a value for the property in the Value box.
9. Click Add. The custom property appears in the list at the bottom of the dialog box.
10. Click OK.

After you have added a custom document property, you will be able to insert it into your document as a field.

In the example below, we’re adding a field for Project Manager:

After you click Add, the custom field appears in the Properties list:

Inserting custom document property fields

The value of a custom document property can be inserted in a Word document using DocProperty fields. Custom document properties that have been added to a document are saved with the document whether they are inserted as a DocProperty field or not. You can insert DocProperty fields multiple times in a document.

To insert a custom document property field using the Field dialog box:

Navigate to the location in the Word document where you want to insert a field.

1. Click the Insert tab in the Ribbon and then click Quick Parts in the Text group. A drop-down menu appears.
2. Select Field. A dialog box appears.
3. In the list of Field names on the left, select DocProperty.
4. Under Field properties, select a property name.
5. To view the codes for a field in the Field box, click Field Codes. For some fields, this button is clicked by default.
6. Ensure that Preserve Formatting During Updates is checked so that formatting you apply is not removed when the fields are updated.
7. Click OK. The field is inserted into the document.

In the example below, we’re inserting the custom Project Manager field we created in Advanced Properties:

Updating built-in and custom fields

Word should automatically update fields when a document is opened. Many fields are also updated automatically when you go to Print Preview (click the File tab and then click Print). If you prefer, you can update fields manually.

To update a field manually, right-click the field and then click Update Field or press F9.

To update all fields manually in the main body of a document, press Ctrl + A to select all and then press F9.

Some fields in headers, footers or text boxes must be updated separately. Click in the header, footer or text box, press Ctrl + A to select all and then press F9. Page fields do not need to be updated manually because they update when you go the Print Preview.

If you want to edit a custom DocProperty field, you will need to edit it in the Advanced Properties dialog box.

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