How to: Programmatically Set Search Options in Word

There are two ways to set search options for selections in Microsoft Office Word documents:

• Set individual properties of a Find object.

• Use arguments of the Execute method of a Find object.

Applies to: The information in this topic applies to document-level projects and application-level projects for Word 2013 and Word 2010. For more information, see Features Available by Office Application and Project Type.

Using Properties of a Find Object

The following code sets properties of a Find object to search for text within the current selection. Notice that the search criteria, such as searching forward, wrapping, and text to search for, are properties of the Find object.

Setting each of the properties of the Find object is not useful when you write C# code because you must specify the same properties as parameters in the Execute method. Therefore this example contains only Visual Basic code.

To set search options using a Find object

• Set the properties of a Find object to search forward through a selection for the text find me.

  With Application.Selection.Find
      .ClearFormatting()
      .Forward = True
      .Wrap = Word.WdFindWrap.wdFindContinue
      .Text = "find me"
      .Execute()
  End With
  

Using Execute Method Arguments

The following code uses the Execute method of a Find object to search for text within the current selection. Notice that the search criteria, such as searching forward, wrapping, and text to search for, are passed as parameters of the Execute method.

To set search options using Execute method arguments

• Pass search criteria as parameters of the Execute method to search forward through a selection for the text find me.

  With Application.Selection.Find
      .ClearFormatting()
      .Execute(FindText:="find me", Forward:=True, Wrap:=Word.WdFindWrap.wdFindContinue)
  End With
  

  Application.Selection.Find.ClearFormatting(); 
  Application.Selection.Find.Execute("find me", Forward:true, Wrap:Word.WdFindWrap.wdFindContinue);
  

See Also

Tasks

How to: Programmatically Search for and Replace Text in Documents

How to: Programmatically Loop Through Found Items in Documents

How to: Programmatically Restore Selections After Searches