Highlighting is a typical course of in Microsoft Phrase, allowing readers to shortly uncover specific phrases or phrases. If the textual content material repeatedly occurs, manually highlighting all conditions might be tedious and pointless. On this text, I’ll current you two strategies to give attention to recurring textual content material: using Phrase’s “Uncover and Substitute” and “Uncover” decisions. Every are environment friendly devices for reviewing surrounding textual content material reasonably than making a blanket change. Every are easy to do — nevertheless embrace a few limitations.

I’m using (desktop) Microsoft 365, nevertheless you need to make the most of earlier variations. You could work collectively together with your doc or receive the simple demonstration .docx file.

What is the shortcut to give attention to positive phrases?

The keyboard shortcut for Uncover & Substitute is Ctrl + H on Dwelling home windows or Command + F on Mac.

highlight in Phrase using Uncover & Substitute

To give attention to in Phrase, go to the Substitute menu on the Residence bar. Using the shortcut or selecting the menu will open the Uncover & Substitute discipline. Look for the phrase you’ll want to highlight throughout the Uncover topic. Deciding on “Uncover Subsequent” will highlight the phrase throughout the doc.

After highlighting, you probably can shortly peruse your doc and make updates as compulsory. The highlighting will maintain in place until you’re taking away it. You could even save the highlights.

However, all this quick highlighting has its limits:

• In case you highlight one different phrase or phrase — regardless of the highlight coloration you make the most of — Phrase will take away the outcomes of the Highlight All course of.
• In case you’re taking away the highlight from any of the highlighted conditions, Phrase will take away all of them.

Now, let’s do the similar issue using Uncover throughout the Navigation pane.

SEE: Microsoft Phrase usually autoformats an em dash, nevertheless there are strategies to include an em dash manually.

highlight in Phrase using Uncover

There’s a few technique to highlight recurring textual content material, and in addition you’ll want to pay attention to every.

Utterly totally different methods might match counting on the mannequin of Phrase you are using. For now, we’ll use the Uncover alternative, nevertheless you probably can skip deciding on a highlight coloration on account of Phrase will ignore the setting. The following may highlight textual content material in older variations of Phrase:

1. Click on on Uncover throughout the Modifying group or press Ctrl+F to open the Navigation pane.
2. From the textual content material dropdown, choose Decisions, take a look at the Highlight All setting, and click on on OK.
3. Throughout the textual content material administration, enter the chosen phrase (on this case, “video”) and press Enter. Phrase will robotically highlight all conditions.

The similar caveats apply as sooner than when trying to work with subsequent highlighting. In addition to, when you shut the Navigation pane, all highlights disappear. For that cause, I uncover this choice a lot much less versatile, nevertheless within the occasion you’re working throughout the Navigation pane for various causes, it actually works properly.

Highlighting textual content material in Phrase for web

In Phrase for an web browser, use the similar keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl + H on Dwelling home windows or Command + F on Mac) as above to open the Uncover sidebar throughout the Navigation half. Typing a phrase or character into the search discipline will highlight it throughout the physique of the textual content material. Together with the search bar are settings that will highlight full phrases solely or match circumstances.

How can one merely set up and substitute duplicate phrases in a Microsoft Phrase doc?

As quickly as phrases have been chosen using Uncover, Substitute will seemingly be easy to determine. The Substitute and Substitute All buttons sit on the bottom of the Uncover and Substitute menu in trendy variations of the Phrase software program, or beside Uncover throughout the Navigation tab throughout the browser mannequin. Insert the phrase you’ll want to substitute the highlighted textual content material with and select Substitute to make one change or Substitute All to make use of the change to the entire doc.

Megan Crouse updated this textual content in January 2025.