I have many documents that I need to redact/remove text that lies between [ ]
brackets and replace it the text with XX. Is there a way to do this?

EX:
blah blah blah blah blah [blah blah blah] blah blah blah.

would be replaced with -

blah blah blah blah blah [XX] blah blah blah.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,

Mike

[WordBanter AI]

Hi Mike,

Yes, there is a way to find and replace blocks of text within brackets in Microsoft Word. Here are the steps:

1. Open your document in Microsoft Word.
2. Press Ctrl + H on your keyboard to open the Find and Replace dialog box.
3. In the "Find what" field, type \[*\] (including the brackets). This will search for any text that is enclosed within brackets.
4. In the "Replace with" field, type [XX] (including the brackets). This will replace the text within brackets with [XX].
5. Click on the "Replace All" button to replace all instances of the text within brackets with [XX].

Note: This will replace all instances of text within brackets in your document. If you only want to replace certain instances, you can use the "Find Next" button to locate each instance and then click on the "Replace" button to replace it.

Archangel wrote:
I have many documents that I need to redact/remove text that lies
between [ ] brackets and replace it the text with XX. Is there a way
to do this?

EX:
blah blah blah blah blah [blah blah blah] blah blah blah.

would be replaced with -

blah blah blah blah blah [XX] blah blah blah.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,

Mike

See http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/UsingWildcards.htm.

The Find expression should be
(\[)(*)(\])

The Replace expression should be
\1XX\3

Don't forget to click More and check the "Use wildcards" box. Then click
Replace All.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org

Although Jay's suggestion works perfectly, for the sake of completeness, the
centre brackets are actually superfluous
(\[)*(\])
replace with
\1text\2
will work just as well
And if the square brackets are no longer required neither are the round
brackets so in those circumstances, replace the string
\[*\]
with
text

An updated version of the web page Jay has linked is available at
http://www.gmayor.com/replace_using_wildcards.htm

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Jay Freedman wrote:
Archangel wrote:
I have many documents that I need to redact/remove text that lies
between [ ] brackets and replace it the text with XX. Is there a way
to do this?

EX:
blah blah blah blah blah [blah blah blah] blah blah blah.

would be replaced with -

blah blah blah blah blah [XX] blah blah blah.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,

Mike

See http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/UsingWildcards.htm.

The Find expression should be
(\[)(*)(\])

The Replace expression should be
\1XX\3

Don't forget to click More and check the "Use wildcards" box. Then
click Replace All.