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How to Find and Replace Special Characters in Microsoft Word

By Erin Wright

‎This tutorial shows three ways to find and replace special characters in Microsoft Word:

1. Enter special characters directly into the Find and Replace dialog box

2. Select special characters from within the Find and Replace dialog box

3. Use keyboard shortcuts or caret codes

We’ll focus on the preset special characters available through Word’s Symbol dialog box.

This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.

Watch more than 200 other writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel.

Please note that Word’s Find and Replace tool doesn’t work with ten of the special characters related to formatting: 1/4 em space, no-width optional break, no-width nonbreak, left-to-right mark, right-to-left mark, left-to-right embedding, right-to-left embedding, left-to-right override, right-to-left override, and pop directional formatting.

For more information on special characters, visit “What Are Special Characters in Microsoft Word?” and “How to Insert Special Characters in Microsoft Word.”

The images below are from Word for Microsoft 365. The steps are the same for Word 2019 and Word 2016 and similar for Word 2013 and Word 2010.

Enter Special Characters Directly into the Find and Replace Dialog Box‎‏

Twelve special characters can be inserted directly into the Find and Replace dialog box by selecting the character:

  • Em dash
  • En dash
  • Em space
  • En space
  • Copyright symbol
  • Registered symbol
  • Trademark
  • Section symbol
  • Paragraph symbol
  • Ellipsis
  • Double opening quote
  • Double closing quote

To insert special characters directly into the Find and Replace dialog box:

1. Select the special character in your text. (The copyright symbol appears in this example.)

Copyright symbol selected.
Figure 1. Copyright symbol selected

2. Select the Home tab in the ribbon.

Home tab in Word 2019/Word 365
Figure 2. Home tab

3. Select Replace in the Editing group.

Replace button in the Editing Group in Word 2019/Word 365
Figure 3. Replace in the Editing group

4. Ensure that the special character appears in the Find what text box in the Find and Replace dialog box. (Some special characters aren’t visible in the text box, so do a test run before selecting the Replace All button in step 6.)

Copyright symbol in the Find What text box in the Find and Replace dialog box
Figure 4. Copyright symbol in the Find What text box

5. Enter the replacement character in the Replace with text box. (The trademark appears in this example.)

Trademark in the Replace With text box in the Find and Replace dialog box in Word 2019 / Word 365
Figure 5. Trademark in the Replace With text box

6. Select the Replace, Replace All, or Find Next button.

  • Replace replaces the next occurrence.
  • Replace All replaces all occurrences.
  • Find Next finds the next occurrence without making a replacement.
Replace, Replace All, and Find Next buttons in the Find and Replace dialog box in Word 2019/Word 365
Figure 6. Replace, Replace All, and Find Next buttons

If you selected Replace All, a series of small dialog boxes will tell you how many replacements were made. Select the Yes and OK buttons to close those dialog boxes.

7. Select the Close button to close the Find and Replace dialog box.

Close button in the Find and Replace dialog box in Word 2019/Word 365
Figure 7. Close button

Pro Tip: You can also copy (ctrl + c) and paste (ctrl + v) the twelve special characters mentioned above directly into the Find and Replace dialog box.

Select Special Characters from within the Find and Replace Dialog Box

Seven special characters can be inserted into the Find and Replace dialog box through the Special drop-down menu:

  • Em dash
  • En dash
  • Nonbreaking hyphen
  • Optional hyphen
  • Nonbreaking space
  • Section symbol
  • Paragraph symbol

To select special characters from within the Find and Replace dialog box:

1. Select the Home tab in the ribbon (see figure 2).

2. Select Replace in the Editing group (see figure 3).

3. Place your cursor in the Find what text box in the Find and Replace dialog box.

Cursor in the Find What text box in the Find and Replace dialog box in Word 2019/Word 365
Figure 8. Cursor in the Find What text box

4. Select the More button. (Skip to Step 5 if the Less button is already visible.)

More button in the Find and Replace dialog box in Word 2019/Word 365
Figure 9. More button

5. Select the Special button.

Special button in the Find and Replace dialog box in Word 2019/Word 365
Figure 10. Special button

6. Select the special character from the menu.

Special menu in the Find and Replace dialog box in Word 2019/Word 365
Figure 11. Special menu

The special character will appear in the Find what text box as a caret code. The caret code for the em dash appears in figure 12, below.

7. Enter the replacement character in the Replace with text box. (Repeat step 5 and step 6 if you are replacing the existing character with one of the seven available in this dialog box. The caret code for the en dash appears in this example.)

Em dash and en dash caret codes in the Find and Replace dialog box in Word 2019/Word 365
Figure 12. Caret codes in the Find What and Replace With text boxes

8. Select the Replace, Replace All, or Find Next button (see figure 6).

9. Select the Close button to close the Find and Replace dialog box (see figure 7).

Use Keyboard Shortcuts or Caret Codes

Fifteen special characters can be inserted into the Find and Replace dialog box using a keyboard shortcut and/or a caret code:

  • Em dash
  • En dash
  • Nonbreaking hyphen
  • Optional hyphen
  • Nonbreaking space
  • Copyright symbol
  • Registered symbol
  • Trademark
  • Section symbol
  • Paragraph symbol
  • Ellipsis
  • Single opening quote
  • Single closing quote
  • Double opening quote
  • Double closing quote

The table below lists the keyboard shortcuts and caret codes for finding and replacing the special characters listed above. Several of these special characters have a keyboard shortcut and a caret code.

Table of Keyboard Shortcuts and Caret Codes for How to Find and Replace Special Characters in Microsoft Word

To insert special characters using keyboard shortcuts or caret codes:

1. Select the Home tab in the ribbon (see figure 2).

2. Select Replace in the Editing group (see figure 3).

3. Type the keyboard shortcut or caret code into the Find what text box (see figure 4).

4. Enter the replacement character in the Replace with text box (see figure 5).

5. Select the Replace, Replace All, or Find Next button (see figure 6).

6. Select the Close button to close the Find and Replace dialog box (see figure 7).

Pro Tip: You can also use the keyboard shortcuts shown above to insert special characters directly into your text. For a full list of keyboard shortcuts for special characters, see “How to Insert Special Characters in Microsoft Word.”

Related Resources

How to Find and Replace Text in Microsoft Word

How to Find and Replace Font Formatting in Microsoft Word

Updated December 09, 2022

Filed Under: Microsoft Word Tagged With: formatting, punctuation, Word 2010, Word 2013, Word 2016, Word 2019, Word 365

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Hello! My name is Erin. I am a technical writer and editor who shares writing-related software tutorials on this website and on YouTube.

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