Use a screen reader to find text with specific formatting in word

This article is for people with visual impairments who use a screen reader program with the Office products and is part of the Office Accessibility content set. For more general help, see Microsoft Support home.

Use Word with your keyboard and a screen reader to find out where a specific text style or formatting is used in your document, and replace it with another. We have tested it with Narrator, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.

Notes: 

• New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

• To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft Office.

In this topic

• Search for a specific style

• Search for a specific formatting

Search for a specific style

Sometimes you want to find all occurrences of a specific text style in your document, for example, Strong or Emphasis, so that you can replace it with another one.

1. Press Ctrl+F. You hear: "Navigation, Search a document."

2. Press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear "More options, collapsed, menu item," press Alt+Down arrow key to expand the menu, and then press A to open the Advanced Find dialog. You hear: "Find and Replace window, rich edit control, editing." The focus is on the Find what text field.

   Tip:  Word remembers the Find settings you last used in the Advanced Find dialog, for example, if you searched for the Strong style and replaced it with Emphasis. To reset the Find settings before a new search, press Alt+O, press Alt+Up arrow key, and then press Alt+T to select No Formatting. The focus returns to the Find what text field.

3. Press Alt+O, S to open the Find Style dialog. You hear: "Find Style window, Find what style, no style, none selected."

4. Press the Down arrow key until Narrator announces the style you want to replace, for example, "Emphasis," and then press Enter to select.

   Tip: You can jump directly to a style by pressing its first letter. For example, press E to jump to Emphasis. If there are more styles that begin with the chosen letter, press the key repeatedly until Narrator announces the style you seek.

5. Press Alt+P to move the focus to the Replace tab. You hear: "Selected, Replace tab item." Press the Tab key until you hear: "Replace with, editing text."

   Tip:  Word remembers the Replace settings you last used in the Advanced Find dialog, for example, if you searched for the Strong style and replaced it with Emphasis. To reset the Replace settings before a new search, press Alt+O, press Alt+Up arrow key, and then press Alt+T to select No Formatting. The focus returns to the Replace with text field.

6. Press Alt+O, S to open the Find Style dialog. You hear: "Find Style window, Find what style, no style, none selected."

7. Press the Down arrow key until Narrator announces the style you want to use, for example, "Emphasis," and then press Enter to select.

   Tip: You can jump directly to a style by pressing its first letter. For example, press E to jump to Emphasis. If there are more styles that begin with the chosen letter, press the key repeatedly until Narrator announces the style you seek.

8. Press Alt+A to replace all occurrences of the first style with the second one. You hear: "Microsoft Word dialog, OK button." Press Enter, Esc to close the Advanced Find dialog and return the focus to the document.

Search for a specific formatting

Sometimes you want to find all occurrences of a specific text formatting in your document, for example, Bold or Italic, so that you can replace it with another one.

Note: If you change the formatting of, for example, Bold text everywhere in the document, it also changes the font style wherever the Strong style is used, but not vice versa. This is why we recommend using styles instead of manual formatting.

1. Press Ctrl+F. You hear: "Navigation, Search a document."

2. Press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear "More options, collapsed, menu item," press Alt+Down arrow key to expand the menu, and then press A to open the Advanced Find dialog. You hear: "Find and Replace window, rich edit control, editing." The focus is on the Find what text field.

   Tip:  Word remembers the Find settings you last used in the Advanced Find dialog, for example, if you searched for the Bold formatting and replaced it with Italic. To reset the Find settings before a new search, press Alt+O, press Alt+Up arrow key, and then press Alt+T to select No Formatting. The focus returns to the Find what text field.

3. Press Alt+O, F to open the Find Font dialog. You hear: "Find Font window, Font, editing text."

4. Press Alt+Y to move the focus to the Font style menu, press the Down arrow key until Narrator announces the font style you want to replace, for example, "Bold," and then press Enter to select.

5. Press Alt+P to move the focus to the Replace tab. You hear: "Selected, Replace tab item." Press the Tab key until you hear: "Replace with, editing text."

   Tip:  Word remembers the Replace settings you last used in the Advanced Find dialog, for example, if you searched for the Bold formatting and replaced it with Italic. To reset the Replace settings before a new search, press Alt+O, press Alt+Up arrow key, and then press Alt+T to select No Formatting. The focus returns to the Replace with text field.

6. Press Alt+O, F to open the Find Font dialog. You hear: "Find Font window, Font, editing text."

7. Press Alt+Y to move the focus to the Font style menu, press the Down arrow key until Narrator announces the font style you want to use, for example, "Regular," and then press Enter to select.

8. Press Alt+A to replace all occurrences of the first font style with the second one. You hear: "Microsoft Word dialog, OK button." Press Enter, Esc to close the Advanced Find dialog and return the focus to the document.

See also

Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word

Keyboard shortcuts in Word

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Learn how to navigate Word using accessible features

Technical support for customers with disabilities

Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.

If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.