WD: Find/Replace Command Doesn't Ignore Deleted Text

ID: Q120775

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, versions 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.1a
Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition

SYMPTOMS

When you click Find or Replace on the Edit menu and revision marks are displayed, Word does not find characters specified in the Find What box if that text contains characters that you deleted.

For example, if you type

   Forget me not

and delete the characters "me", Word does not find "Forget not".

In contrast, Find or Replace locates text that has been added to your document. For example, if you type

     Microsoft for Windows

and add the word "Excel" between "Microsoft" and "for", Word finds "Microsoft Excel for Windows".

CAUSE

When deleted text is being displayed, it affects the search engine.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, either accept changes or turn off the display of changes prior to searching.

To turn off the display of changes, use the appropriate method for your version of Word.

Word 6 and 7

1. Click Revisions on the Tools menu.

2. Click to clear the "Show Revisions on Screen" check box.

3. Perform the search.

Word 98

1. On the Tools menu, point to Track Changes, and click Highlight Changes.

2. Click to clear the "Highlight Changes on Screen" check box.

3. Perform the search.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

Additional query words: edit find search revision marks delete deleted text line

Keywords          : kbproof word8 macword98 winword macword word6 word7 word95 
Version           : MACINTOSH:6.0,6.0.1,6.0.1a,98;WINDOWS:6.0a,6.0c,7.0,7.0a
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbpending

Last Reviewed: December 4, 1998