Read Microsoft's own documentation...
...oh, wait! They don't document it beyond:
'Search options
...
Use wildcards Get partial matches. For example, "the*" finds
"theater", "thespian", and "thermin."'
There is literally no documentation beyond that you can find by search Microsoft's support site for "find and replace using wildcards in word"
You perform a search from Microsoft's support home page for Word...
"find replace Word"
(Microsoft helpfully adds the "Word" automatically, so you think there
would be a reason)
...and you get results for:
Word
PowerPoint
Outlook
Access
Excel
OneNote
Word for the web (only)
Visio
Excel
9 results, only two of which are for Word.
And neither of which tell you how you can search for a square bracket
("[") while using wildcard searches.
I need to remove explanatory text between square brackets and the
brackets themselves and so would like to do a search like \[?*\].
By searching around the web, I discovered that to use an escape
character to remove the special meaning of some characters when using wildcard matching, you have to enclose the escaped character in
parantheses e.g. to search for a question mark, type "(\?)"
Microsoft doesn't tell you this (absurd!), but you can find it and it
does work.
Now, try the same thing for a square bracket.
"(\[)"
Nothing.
It
does
not
work.
Seriously: who built this shit?
Read Microsoft's own documentation...
...oh, wait! They don't document it beyond:
'Search options
...
Use wildcards Get partial matches. For example, "the*" finds
"theater", "thespian", and "thermin."'
There is literally no documentation beyond that you can find by search Microsoft's support site for "find and replace using wildcards in word"
You perform a search from Microsoft's support home page for Word...
"find replace Word"
(Microsoft helpfully adds the "Word" automatically, so you think there
would be a reason)
...and you get results for:
Word
PowerPoint
Outlook
Access
Excel
OneNote
Word for the web (only)
Visio
Excel
9 results, only two of which are for Word.
And neither of which tell you how you can search for a square bracket
("[") while using wildcard searches.
I need to remove explanatory text between square brackets and the
brackets themselves and so would like to do a search like \[?*\].
By searching around the web, I discovered that to use an escape
character to remove the special meaning of some characters when using wildcard matching, you have to enclose the escaped character in
parantheses e.g. to search for a question mark, type "(\?)"
Microsoft doesn't tell you this (absurd!), but you can find it and it
does work.
Now, try the same thing for a square bracket.
"(\[)"
Nothing.
It
does
not
work.
Seriously: who built this shit?
Read Microsoft's own documentation...
...oh, wait! They don't document it beyond:
'Search options
...
Use wildcards Get partial matches. For example, "the*" finds
"theater", "thespian", and "thermin."'
There is literally no documentation beyond that you can find by search Microsoft's support site for "find and replace using wildcards in word"
You perform a search from Microsoft's support home page for Word...
"find replace Word"
(Microsoft helpfully adds the "Word" automatically, so you think there
would be a reason)
...and you get results for:
Word
PowerPoint
Outlook
Access
Excel
OneNote
Word for the web (only)
Visio
Excel
9 results, only two of which are for Word.
And neither of which tell you how you can search for a square bracket
("[") while using wildcard searches.
I need to remove explanatory text between square brackets and the
brackets themselves and so would like to do a search like \[?*\].
By searching around the web, I discovered that to use an escape
character to remove the special meaning of some characters when using wildcard matching, you have to enclose the escaped character in
parantheses e.g. to search for a question mark, type "(\?)"
Microsoft doesn't tell you this (absurd!), but you can find it and it
does work.
Now, try the same thing for a square bracket.
"(\[)"
Nothing.
It
does
not
work.
Seriously: who built this shit?
On Thursday, November 18, 2021 at 2:54:10 PM UTC-5, Alan wrote:
Read Microsoft's own documentation...
...oh, wait! They don't document it beyond:
'Search options
...
Use wildcards Get partial matches. For example, "the*" finds
"theater", "thespian", and "thermin."'
There is literally no documentation beyond that you can find by search
Microsoft's support site for "find and replace using wildcards in word"
You perform a search from Microsoft's support home page for Word...
"find replace Word"
(Microsoft helpfully adds the "Word" automatically, so you think there
would be a reason)
...and you get results for:
Word
PowerPoint
Outlook
Access
Excel
OneNote
Word for the web (only)
Visio
Excel
9 results, only two of which are for Word.
And neither of which tell you how you can search for a square bracket
("[") while using wildcard searches.
I need to remove explanatory text between square brackets and the
brackets themselves and so would like to do a search like \[?*\].
By searching around the web, I discovered that to use an escape
character to remove the special meaning of some characters when using
wildcard matching, you have to enclose the escaped character in
parantheses e.g. to search for a question mark, type "(\?)"
Microsoft doesn't tell you this (absurd!), but you can find it and it
does work.
Now, try the same thing for a square bracket.
"(\[)"
Nothing.
It
does
not
work.
Seriously: who built this shit?
Try
Find and Replace
Find tab
More >>
Special (on the box bottom)
Any character
Type any character after the ^?
Find Next
Works here, but that is not available from the simple Find command. Use this infrequently but did know how to do it. Screenshot:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nCugFXSzbfWsMaS9l3A5DSC1Izrw139x/view?usp=sharing
Works in all Office apps with Find and Replace.
You are welcome.
On 2021-11-20 10:42 a.m., Thomas E. wrote:
On Thursday, November 18, 2021 at 2:54:10 PM UTC-5, Alan wrote:
Read Microsoft's own documentation...
...oh, wait! They don't document it beyond:
'Search options
...
Use wildcards Get partial matches. For example, "the*" finds
"theater", "thespian", and "thermin."'
There is literally no documentation beyond that you can find by search
Microsoft's support site for "find and replace using wildcards in word"
You perform a search from Microsoft's support home page for Word...
"find replace Word"
(Microsoft helpfully adds the "Word" automatically, so you think there
would be a reason)
...and you get results for:
Word
PowerPoint
Outlook
Access
Excel
OneNote
Word for the web (only)
Visio
Excel
9 results, only two of which are for Word.
And neither of which tell you how you can search for a square bracket
("[") while using wildcard searches.
I need to remove explanatory text between square brackets and the
brackets themselves and so would like to do a search like \[?*\].
By searching around the web, I discovered that to use an escape
character to remove the special meaning of some characters when using
wildcard matching, you have to enclose the escaped character in
parantheses e.g. to search for a question mark, type "(\?)"
Microsoft doesn't tell you this (absurd!), but you can find it and it
does work.
Now, try the same thing for a square bracket.
"(\[)"
Nothing.
It
does
not
work.
Seriously: who built this shit?
Try
Find and Replace
Find tab
More >>
Special (on the box bottom)
Any character
Type any character after the ^?
Find Next
Works here, but that is not available from the simple Find command. Use this infrequently but did know how to do it. Screenshot:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nCugFXSzbfWsMaS9l3A5DSC1Izrw139x/view?usp=sharing
Works in all Office apps with Find and Replace.
You are welcome.
Yes, Idiot.
I know how to do that.
That wasn't the point of what I wrote.
On Saturday, November 20, 2021 at 3:33:47 PM UTC-5, Alan wrote:
On 2021-11-20 10:42 a.m., Thomas E. wrote:
On Thursday, November 18, 2021 at 2:54:10 PM UTC-5, Alan wrote:Yes, Idiot.
Read Microsoft's own documentation...
...oh, wait! They don't document it beyond:
'Search options ...
Use wildcards Get partial matches. For example, "the*" finds
"theater", "thespian", and "thermin."'
There is literally no documentation beyond that you can find by
search Microsoft's support site for "find and replace using
wildcards in word"
You perform a search from Microsoft's support home page for
Word...
"find replace Word" (Microsoft helpfully adds the "Word"
automatically, so you think there would be a reason)
...and you get results for:
Word
PowerPoint
Outlook
Access
Excel
OneNote
Word for the web (only)
Visio
Excel
9 results, only two of which are for Word.
And neither of which tell you how you can search for a square
bracket ("[") while using wildcard searches.
I need to remove explanatory text between square brackets and
the brackets themselves and so would like to do a search like
\[?*\].
By searching around the web, I discovered that to use an
escape character to remove the special meaning of some
characters when using wildcard matching, you have to enclose
the escaped character in parantheses e.g. to search for a
question mark, type "(\?)"
Microsoft doesn't tell you this (absurd!), but you can find it
and it does work.
Now, try the same thing for a square bracket.
"(\[)"
Nothing.
It
does
not
work.
Seriously: who built this shit?
Try
Find and Replace Find tab More >> Special (on the box bottom) Any
character Type any character after the ^? Find Next
Works here, but that is not available from the simple Find
command. Use this infrequently but did know how to do it.
Screenshot:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nCugFXSzbfWsMaS9l3A5DSC1Izrw139x/view?usp=sharing
Works in all Office apps with Find and Replace.
You are welcome.
I know how to do that.
That wasn't the point of what I wrote.
The point I take away is that you looked on the MS Web site for
something you claim to know how to do in the first place. Then you
complained that the search did not work.
Google or Bing "replace special characters in Word"
You get this as the first hit:
https://confluence.remc1.net/display/PS/Special+Characters+for+Find+and+Replace+in+Microsoft+Word#:~:text=%27%27Find%20what%27%27%20Box%20Only%20%20%20Character%20,search%2C%20wher%20...%20%209%20more%20rows%20
Bingo, it's right there. You are correct, MS could have been more
complete in it's own documentation.
On Saturday, November 20, 2021 at 3:33:47 PM UTC-5, Alan wrote:
On 2021-11-20 10:42 a.m., Thomas E. wrote:
On Thursday, November 18, 2021 at 2:54:10 PM UTC-5, Alan wrote:
Read Microsoft's own documentation...
...oh, wait! They don't document it beyond:
'Search options
...
Use wildcards Get partial matches. For example, "the*" finds
"theater", "thespian", and "thermin."'
There is literally no documentation beyond that you can find by search Microsoft's support site for "find and replace using wildcards in word"
You perform a search from Microsoft's support home page for Word...
"find replace Word"
(Microsoft helpfully adds the "Word" automatically, so you think there would be a reason)
...and you get results for:
Word
PowerPoint
Outlook
Access
Excel
OneNote
Word for the web (only)
Visio
Excel
9 results, only two of which are for Word.
And neither of which tell you how you can search for a square bracket ("[") while using wildcard searches.
I need to remove explanatory text between square brackets and the brackets themselves and so would like to do a search like \[?*\].
By searching around the web, I discovered that to use an escape character to remove the special meaning of some characters when using wildcard matching, you have to enclose the escaped character in parantheses e.g. to search for a question mark, type "(\?)"
Microsoft doesn't tell you this (absurd!), but you can find it and it does work.
Now, try the same thing for a square bracket.
"(\[)"
Nothing.
It
does
not
work.
Seriously: who built this shit?
Try
Find and Replace
Find tab
More >>
Special (on the box bottom)
Any character
Type any character after the ^?
Find Next
Works here, but that is not available from the simple Find command. Use this infrequently but did know how to do it. Screenshot:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nCugFXSzbfWsMaS9l3A5DSC1Izrw139x/view?usp=
sharing
Works in all Office apps with Find and Replace.
You are welcome.Yes, Idiot.
I know how to do that.
That wasn't the point of what I wrote.
The point I take away is that you looked on the MS Web site for something you claim to know how to do in the first place. Then you complained that the search did not work.
Google or Bing "replace special characters in Word"
You get this as the first hit:
https://confluence.remc1.net/display/PS/Special+Characters+for+Find+and+Replac
e+in+Microsoft+Word#:~:text=%27%27Find%20what%27%27%20Box%20Only%20%20%20Chara
cter%20,search%2C%20wher%20...%20%209%20more%20rows%20
Bingo, it's right there. You are correct, MS could have been more complete in it's own documentation.
Read Microsoft's own documentation...
...oh, wait! They don't document it beyond:
'Search options
...
Use wildcards Get partial matches. For example, "the*" finds
"theater", "thespian", and "thermin."'
There is literally no documentation beyond that you can find by search Microsoft's support site for "find and replace using wildcards in word"
You perform a search from Microsoft's support home page for Word...
"find replace Word"
(Microsoft helpfully adds the "Word" automatically, so you think there
would be a reason)
...and you get results for:
Word
PowerPoint
Outlook
Access
Excel
OneNote
Word for the web (only)
Visio
Excel
9 results, only two of which are for Word.
And neither of which tell you how you can search for a square bracket
("[") while using wildcard searches.
I need to remove explanatory text between square brackets and the
brackets themselves and so would like to do a search like \[?*\].
By searching around the web, I discovered that to use an escape
character to remove the special meaning of some characters when using wildcard matching, you have to enclose the escaped character in
parantheses e.g. to search for a question mark, type "(\?)"
Microsoft doesn't tell you this (absurd!), but you can find it and it
does work.
Now, try the same thing for a square bracket.
"(\[)"
Nothing.
It
does
not
work.
Seriously: who built this shit?
On Saturday, November 20, 2021 at 3:33:47 PM UTC-5, Alan wrote:
On 2021-11-20 10:42 a.m., Thomas E. wrote:
On Thursday, November 18, 2021 at 2:54:10 PM UTC-5, Alan wrote:
Read Microsoft's own documentation...
...oh, wait! They don't document it beyond:
'Search options
...
Use wildcards Get partial matches. For example, "the*" finds
"theater", "thespian", and "thermin."'
There is literally no documentation beyond that you can find by search >> Microsoft's support site for "find and replace using wildcards in word" >>
You perform a search from Microsoft's support home page for Word...
"find replace Word"
(Microsoft helpfully adds the "Word" automatically, so you think there >> would be a reason)
...and you get results for:
Word
PowerPoint
Outlook
Access
Excel
OneNote
Word for the web (only)
Visio
Excel
9 results, only two of which are for Word.
And neither of which tell you how you can search for a square bracket
("[") while using wildcard searches.
I need to remove explanatory text between square brackets and the
brackets themselves and so would like to do a search like \[?*\].
By searching around the web, I discovered that to use an escape
character to remove the special meaning of some characters when using
wildcard matching, you have to enclose the escaped character in
parantheses e.g. to search for a question mark, type "(\?)"
Microsoft doesn't tell you this (absurd!), but you can find it and it
does work.
Now, try the same thing for a square bracket.
"(\[)"
Nothing.
It
does
not
work.
Seriously: who built this shit?
Try
Find and Replace
Find tab
More >>
Special (on the box bottom)
Any character
Type any character after the ^?
Find Next
Works here, but that is not available from the simple Find command. Use this infrequently but did know how to do it. Screenshot:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nCugFXSzbfWsMaS9l3A5DSC1Izrw139x/view?usp=sharing
Works in all Office apps with Find and Replace.
You are welcome.
Yes, Idiot.
I know how to do that.
That wasn't the point of what I wrote.The point I take away is that you looked on the MS Web site for something you claim to know how to do in the first place. Then you complained that the search did not work.
Google or Bing "replace special characters in Word"
You get this as the first hit:
https://confluence.remc1.net/display/PS/Special+Characters+for+Find+and+Replace+in+Microsoft+Word#:~:text=%27%27Find%20what%27%27%20Box%20Only%20%20%20Character%20,search%2C%20wher%20...%20%209%20more%20rows%20
Bingo, it's right there. You are correct, MS could have been more complete in it's own documentation.
On Thursday, November 18, 2021 at 2:54:10 PM UTC-5, Alan wrote:
Read Microsoft's own documentation...
...oh, wait! They don't document it beyond:
'Search options
...
Use wildcards Get partial matches. For example, "the*" finds
"theater", "thespian", and "thermin."'
There is literally no documentation beyond that you can find by search
Microsoft's support site for "find and replace using wildcards in word"
You perform a search from Microsoft's support home page for Word...
"find replace Word"
(Microsoft helpfully adds the "Word" automatically, so you think there
would be a reason)
...and you get results for:
Word
PowerPoint
Outlook
Access
Excel
OneNote
Word for the web (only)
Visio
Excel
9 results, only two of which are for Word.
And neither of which tell you how you can search for a square bracket
("[") while using wildcard searches.
I need to remove explanatory text between square brackets and the
brackets themselves and so would like to do a search like \[?*\].
By searching around the web, I discovered that to use an escape
character to remove the special meaning of some characters when using
wildcard matching, you have to enclose the escaped character in
parantheses e.g. to search for a question mark, type "(\?)"
Microsoft doesn't tell you this (absurd!), but you can find it and it
does work.
Now, try the same thing for a square bracket.
"(\[)"
Nothing.
It
does
not
work.
Seriously: who built this shit?
On further examination -
The command is \? does not look for a ?, it's the command. Try \?[
Seems obvious to me.
| Sysop: | Keyop |
|---|---|
| Location: | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK |
| Users: | 296 |
| Nodes: | 16 (2 / 14) |
| Uptime: | 85:55:37 |
| Calls: | 6,658 |
| Files: | 12,203 |
| Messages: | 5,333,783 |