I need to use Find and Replace to just delete some things in a word document. They are end note notations that I put in for my law review. They look like [*###] where the # obviously are just numbers. There are also other annotations that are "n#"

I tried using the wildcard option to take it out, but since both [ and * are wildcard options I can't really delete all of them at once. There are about 200+ notions so it'll be a ton of work just to do it. Does anyone know how I can get around it?

MS Word 2008 on Mac

Edit: The numbers are ascending numbers, in numerical order. [*100], [*101], [*102] and so on. Same with n1, n2, n3.

 

Are you trying to delete specific end notes, turn them into footnotes or what?

If you insert or delete an endnote or footnote, MS Word automatically re-numbers. If you want to delete all the notes, go to the end, select all and delete.

 

can you replace all of the brackets with something else?

Replace [ with {
Replace ] with }
Then delete {****}?

 

Another thing you can try is:

Replace all of the ] with [, so they are all the same.
Select the entire document and choose 'convert text to table'
Choose three columns.
Set the 'choose column separator' (or something like that) to [.
It should make a three column table with whatever is in between the brackets in the middle, and all of your text on the left and right.
Delete the middle column.
Select all.
'Convert table to text'.

 

^damn, you are a Word jedi!

 

The legacy of my days as an editor at a publishing company.

 

You are now on my I-am-a-MSWord-retard-and-need-help-often speed dial.

 

to search for [n###] use [n^#^#^#]

^# = 1 number, so if you have numbers
1-9 , use [n^#]
10-99 , use [n^#^#]
100-999 , use [n^#^#^#]
999-9999 , use [n^#^#^#^#]

to search for [*###] do the same
1-9 , use [*^#]
10-99 , use [*^#^#]
100-999 , use [*^#^#^#]
999-9999 , use [*^#^#^#^#]

 

That solved my problem (with some slight tinkering). I am suddenly more attracted to you.

 

Thanks King, but I wasn't looking for any specific numbers. All of mine were ascending numbers so it'd only be helpful it it could delete ascending numbers like 100 through 200. But good thing to know though, in case I need to find a specific reference point.

 

write that shit on a bar napkin sometime, you'll be the most popular guy in the place

 

His way would have worked also I think...and probably easier than what I said.

would work for all 3 digit numbers, so you could "replace all [*^#^#^#]" with "blank", and every 3 digit number would be gone.

I actually used to enjoy doing this stuff, its like a puzzle.

 

in that case you can use [*1^#^#], for 100 to 199, and [*2^#^#] for all 200s, and so on

 

If you don't know it already, learn GREP. You will enjoy that if you like this stuff.

 

Thanks for the help. I am constantly amazed at how smart and flexible some of these programs are. But then again, they can only be as smart as the person using them.

 

OK, another MSWord question...

When I look at some documents, I see a scroll bar on the right I can grab and drag down through the document. Other times I can't. I always look at docs in Print layout. What gives? I like being able to drag up and down the pages quickly and not having this is frustrating.

 

check monitor res. my hdtv monitor hangs the right edge if i dont auto adjust it

 

Meh, figured it out. Forgot to check "vertical scroll bar" in the options>view.