Word

When I don’t often use fancy (i.e., wildcard) find-and-replace methods in Word, I tend to forget a few key basics. For example, I can never quite remember how to retain a string of text while changing its formatting or other text around it. Should I use a forward slash or a backslash in the replacement field? Which side of the slash does the “part number” go on?

SHORT ANSWER

It’s a backslash followed by the number.

EXAMPLE

Problem

Earlier this month, I looked at how you can split the screen in Word so you can open and simultaneously work on two parts of the same document. Today, I’m revealing my favorite way to manage multiple open documents: Tabs for Word. 

Years ago, editing long documents gave me a splitting headache. Scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. Jumping between sections. Saving portions as separate documents to have open at the same time. Using a hard copy of the notes or the bibliography or another section so I could see it side-by-side with the text I was checking it against. And then I saw another editor do a magic trick that—voilà!—allowed her to simultaneously access two parts of the same document. Word calls this a split window or a split screen. And it’s one of my favorite editing tips and techniques. 

Most of the copyeditors I know are now comfortable editing electronically and tracking their changes in Microsoft Word. They are not always as comfortable allowing others to electronically review and alter their edits. Typically, they fear that the tracking will be accidentally turned off. Ferreting out untracked changes is not how we like to use our time.