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.
4 Delete Drop Shadow in Word Microsoft Excel, like all Office applications, offers several image effects that you can apply to objects. One such effect, shadow, adds the illusion of depth. Microsoft Word's Paragraph and Page Setup options enable you to remove gray shading behind the text and update your document. If a gray background makes the text look indistinct, select a brighter color in the Shading chart to make the text stand out on the page.
Word also offers built-in picture styles, which can be used to add a frame, drop shadow, and other predefined effects. When you're ready to adjust an image, simply select it. Then use the options below, which can be found on the Format tab.
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 the Office button.
Click the Word Options button at the bottom of the Office menu.
![Adding Drop Shaddow To A Text Box In 2016 Word For Mac Adding Drop Shaddow To A Text Box In 2016 Word For Mac](/uploads/1/2/6/0/126005267/245811332.jpg)
To access Word Options in Word 2010 thru 2016, click the File tab.
On the File tab, click Options.
The rest of the steps are the same for all versions of Word. On the Word Options dialog box, click Advanced in the list on the left.
Check the Show field codes instead of their values to 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 the Show document content section. Select the desired option from the Field shading drop-down list. The options perform the same functions as described for Word 2003 above.
Click OK on the Word Options dialog box to accept your changes and close the dialog box.
Again, if you selected Always, 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 press Ctrl + 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 the Unlink Fields action by clicking the Undo button on the Quick Access toolbar or press Ctrl + 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 press Ctrl + 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 select Update Field from the popup menu.
NOTE: You can also press F9 to update a selected field. If you want to update all the fields in a document, press Ctrl + A to select all the text in the document, including the fields, and press F9. 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 the Update button that displays above the field or press F9.
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, select Options from the Tools menu.
The Options dialog box displays. To turn off field shading, select Never from the Field shading drop-down list. To display field shading all the time, even when the field is not selected or the cursor is not in the field, select Always from the Field shading drop-down list.
![Adding Drop Shaddow To A Text Box In 2016 Word For Mac Adding Drop Shaddow To A Text Box In 2016 Word For Mac](/uploads/1/2/6/0/126005267/372095885.png)
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, select When selected from the Field shading drop-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 called Field codes.
Click OK on the Options dialog box to accept your changes and close the dialog box.
If you selected Always, 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 select Toggle Field Codes from 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 pressing Ctrl + A to select all the text in your document, right-clicking anywhere on the text, and selecting Toggle Field Codes from 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.
Fields in Word are bits of code that are placeholders for data that changes. For example, when you insert page numbers into the header or footer of a document, Word actually creates a field that inserts the correct page number on each page.
There are a lot of built-in fields available in Word, such as the current date, the date a document was last saved, the file name, and the number of words in a document. By default, when you insert a field into a document, it is shaded (not highlighted) when you put the cursor anywhere in the field. When you select an entire field, it is both shaded and highlighted. The shading on fields can be helpful to make it easier to find the fields in your document. However, if you’re going to share the document with others or use it in a presentation, you might want to turn off the field shading completely so it’s not distracting for others. We’ll show you where to change this setting for shading on fields.
To begin, click the “File” tab.
Text Box Example
On the backstage screen, click “Options” in the list of items on the left.
The “Word Options” dialog box displays. Click “Advanced” in the list of items on the left.
Scroll down to the “Show document content” section and select an option from the “Field shading” drop-down list.
The default option is “When selected”, which means that a field is shaded when you place the cursor anywhere in that field. Select “Never” if you don’t want any fields to ever be shaded, or “Always” if you want all fields to always be shaded even when the cursor is somewhere else.
Click “OK”.
We selected “Never” so our fields are not shaded at all now.
NOTE: When you select “When selected” for the “Field shading” option, each field displays a gray background when you click within that field. However, the gray shading does not mean that the field itself is selected. Double-click the field or drag the mouse over it to select it. Then highlighting is added to the gray shading indicating the field is selected.
READ NEXT- › What Can I Do with My Old iPhone?
- › How to Stream UFC 242 Khabib vs. Poirier Live Online
- › Free Download: Microsoft’s PowerToys for Windows 10
- › How to Overclock Your Computer’s RAM
- › What’s New in Chrome 77, Arriving September 10