How do you quickly repeat a recurring text in Word?


Scenario

You have some text in a Word document that you’d like to repeat later in that document. You don’t want to write it twice (or more), and you’d rather not copy/paste it from the other location as that means that you’ll have to remember to maintain it in both places if there are changes. If another author takes over the document, they may not know that they have to update this text in two or more places if there are changes, either.

Of course, it would be nice if you could use a tool designed to deal with this sort of single sourcing (such as Author-it), but you’re stuck with Word.

Solution

Bookmarks!

You assign a bookmark to the text you want to re-use, then insert a cross-reference to the bookmark text. Whenever you change the original text, you only need to update the fields in the document for the changes to apply to the second (or third) instance of that text.

Here’s how:

  1. Select the block of text you want to repeat later in the document. This text can be a phrase, one or more paragraphs, a bulleted list, a table, etc.
  2. Insert a bookmark for the selected text (Word 2007 and later: Insert tab > Bookmark).
  3. Give the bookmark a meaningful name, click Add, then click OK.
  4. Go to the place in the document where you want to re-use the selected text.
  5. Insert a cross-reference (Word 2007 and later: References tab > Cross-reference).
  6. Select Bookmark as the Reference Type, and Bookmark Text as the Insert option.
  7. Select the bookmark name you added in Step 3, then click Insert.
  8. Whenever you change any text in the original list, just click inside the other list, then press F9 to update it (or Ctrl+A then F9 to update ALL fields in the document).

Optional

In some situations, you might want to repeat a block of text in a document, but when the document’s finished, you might want to break the link between the two.

For example, a colleague had a PPE (personal protective equipment) list near the beginning of her document that she needed to repeat in the main procedure table. Once all the reviews were completed and the document signed off, the procedure table was to be split from the main document into a new document of its own. So she needed to break the link between the original PPE list and the one in the procedure.

To break the link:

  1. Select the field that contains the re-used text.
  2. Press Ctrl+Shift+F9.

[Links last checked January 2011]

How do you quickly repeat a recurring text in Word?
Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Repeating Your Typing.

How do you quickly repeat a recurring text in Word?

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 7, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365


If you type a word, phrase, or other passage of text, you can use either the F4 shortcut key or the Ctrl+Y shortcut to repeat the typing at another location in your document. These shortcuts must be used before you use any other Word command or type any other text.

Note that if you select a few letters before you start typing (so that your typing replaces what you selected), then any subsequent use of F4 or Ctrl+Y will not repeat everything you typed. For instance, if you select the word "goodbye" and then type "hello," the subscquent use of F4 or Ctrl+Y will result in "ello" being what is repeated.

This happens because Word seems to consider the deletion of the original text ("goodbye"), which is triggered by pressing the "h", as a separate act from the typing of "ello". Pressing F4 or Ctrl+Y only repeats the last repeatable act, so only "ello" (the last act) is repeated.

Even so, the F4 or Ctrl+Y shortcuts can come in very handy when you want to repeat the insertion of a special symbol or you want to repeat some other action, such as searching for a word or phrase.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (9569) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Repeating Your Typing.

Author Bio

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Saving Documents Using the Same Filename

When working on a document, you most often want to save your edits using the existing name of the document. If Word ...

Discover More

Selecting Individual Cells in a Table

Many times, before applying formatting or doing another operation, you need to select an individual cell in a table. ...

Discover More

Inserting Workbook Comments Into a Cell

One of the pieces of information that Excel can maintain relative to a workbook is a set of comments of your choice. ...

Discover More

More WordTips (ribbon)

Jumping to the End of the Document in Error

If you inadvertently move to the end of the document, you might be wondering how to get your insertion point back to ...

Discover More

Smart Quote after Em Dash Faces Wrong Direction

When using smart quotes in your typing, Word tries its best to figure out which way the quote you just typed should face. ...

Discover More

Jumping to a Relative Page

When you are navigating around your document, you may find it helpful to jump a certain number of pages either toward the ...

Discover More

How do I repeat a word multiple times in word?

To use the bookmark to repeat the word; Place your cursor where you want the word repeated..
Highlight the word you want to repeat..
Click Insert , Links , Bookmark ..
In the Bookmark window, name it as you wish, then click Add ..
Click OK ..

What is the shortcut for repeat in word?

To repeat something simple, such as a paste operation, press Ctrl+Y or F4 (If F4 doesn't seem to work, you may need to press the F-Lock key or Fn Key, then F4). If you prefer to use the mouse, click Repeat on the Quick Access Toolbar.

How do I repeat text on each page in word?

Then select the text box, and save it to the Text Box Gallery (on the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Text Box > Save Selection to Text Box Gallery). You can then quickly insert a copy on every page by selecting in on the Text Box drop-down.