Show/Hide Field Codes in Word and Convert Fields to Text

Helpful tools when working with data

If you have a lot of field codes in your Word document that you are not going to be updating, you may want to convert them to plain text. To do this, you will want to easily find your fields by turning on the field shading.

This post shows you how to turn on and off the field shading in Word 2003, Word 2007, Word 2010, Word 2013 and Word 2016. We will also show you the steps to convert fields to plain text, which are the same in all three versions.

Turn On and Off Field Shading in Word 2007 thru 2016

The procedure for turning on or off field shading in Word 2007 is essentially the same as in Word 2010 – 2016. We will show you the steps for Word 2007 and point out the few differences for newer versions of Word. To start, click theOfficebutton.

Click theWord Optionsbutton at the bottom of theOfficemenu.

To accessWord Optionsin Word 2010 thru 2016, click theFiletab.

On theFiletab, clickOptions.

The rest of the steps are the same for all versions of Word. On theWord Optionsdialog box, clickAdvancedin the list on the left.

Check theShow field codes instead of their valuesto display the actual code that is being use to generate the field value. Note that you cannot actually hide the field completely. Word will either display the code or the results and you can use this checkbox to toggle between both. You can also use the ALT + F9 keyboard shortcut to toggle between field results and field codes.

Scroll down to theShow document contentsection. Select the desired option from theField shadingdrop-down list. The options perform the same functions as described for Word 2003 above.

ClickOKon theWord Optionsdialog box to accept your changes and close the dialog box.

Again, if you selectedAlways, the field shading displays even if the cursor is not in the field.

You can toggle the field codes the same way as described for Word 2003 above.

Convert Fields to Plain Text

Converting a field to plain text is done the same way in all three versions of Word discussed in this post. Simply, put the cursor in the field you want to convert to text and pressCtrl + Shift + F9. The field is converted to text as the last value it contained when it was a field.

If you change your mind, and want to convert the text back to a field, you can undo theUnlink Fieldsaction by clicking theUndobutton on the Quick Access toolbar or pressCtrl + Z.

If you want to convert all of your fields to text, you can select all of the text in your document as described earlier in this post (Ctrl + A) and then pressCtrl + Shift + F9. You will then have no more fields in your document.

Update Fields

If you decide that you will not need to update a field anymore and you want to convert it to text, you can easily do so. However, first, you should update the field to make sure the value of the field is up-to-date. To do this in Word 2003, right-click on the field and selectUpdate Fieldfrom the popup menu.

NOTE:You can also pressF9to update a selected field. If you want to update all the fields in a document, pressCtrl + Ato select all the text in the document, including the fields, and pressF9. All the fields in the document will be updated.

To update a field in Word 2007 thru 2016, put the cursor in the field and either click theUpdatebutton that displays above the field or pressF9.

NOTE:You can update all of the fields in your document the same way as described above for Word 2003.

Turn On and Off Field Shading in Word 2003

To turn on or off field shading in Word 2003, selectOptionsfrom theToolsmenu.

TheOptionsdialog box displays. To turn off field shading, selectNeverfrom theField shadingdrop-down list. To display field shading all the time, even when the field is not selected or the cursor is not in the field, selectAlwaysfrom theField shadingdrop-down list.

This allows you to see your fields in your document at a glance. If you only want to see the field shading when the field is selected, or the cursor is in the field, selectWhen selectedfrom theField shadingdrop-down list. This is the default choice when you install Word.

To hide field codes in a Word document, just uncheck the box right above field shading calledField codes.

ClickOKon theOptionsdialog box to accept your changes and close the dialog box.

If you selectedAlways, you will notice that fields are highlighted even when the cursor is not in the field.

If you see what looks like code in your date field, for example, rather than the date, that means the field codes are being displayed rather than the value of the field. To view the value of the field, right-click in the field and selectToggle Field Codesfrom the popup menu. You will then see the date, as in the example image above.

If some or all of your fields show the field codes, you can display the values of all the fields by pressingCtrl + Ato select all the text in your document, right-clicking anywhere on the text, and selectingToggle Field Codesfrom the popup menu.

You may have to select the option twice until the values of your fields display. The fields are all converted to the same state, even if some display field codes and some display values.

Founder of Help Desk Geek and managing editor. He began blogging in 2007 and quit his job in 2010 to blog full-time. He has over 15 years of industry experience in IT and holds several technical certifications.Read Aseem’s Full Bio

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