How can you use wildcards to search for word variations in Office Administration?

1 Why use wildcards?

Wildcards can be a useful tool for making searches more efficient and accurate, particularly when dealing with large or complex documents, databases, or directories. For instance, you can use wildcards to find all words that start with a certain letter or prefix, such as a* for words like admin , account , or audit . Additionally, you can use wildcards to locate words that end with a certain letter or suffix, such as *ing for words like booking , billing , or reporting . Wildcards can also be used to discover words that contain a certain letter or sequence of letters, such as *cat* for words like catalog , category , or certificate . Lastly, wildcards can be used to find words that have a variable letter or number, such as col?r for words like color or

colour</
###### How to use wildcards in Word?
Word is a popular word processing application that allows you to use wildcards in its Find and Replace function. To use wildcards, open the document in Word and press Ctrl+F to open the Navigation pane. Then, click the arrow next to the search box and select Advanced Find. In the Find and Replace dialog box, click the More button and check the Use wildcards box. Enter the word or phrase you want to find in the Find what box, using the appropriate wildcards. For example, if you want to find all words that start with 
<code>
re        

and end with e , enter re*e . Finally, click Find Next to see the first match or Find All to see all matches in a list. Wildcards can be a powerful tool for finding what you need quickly in Word.

3 How to use wildcards in Outlook?

Outlook is a popular email and calendar application that allows you to use wildcards in its Search function. To use wildcards, open the folder or mailbox you want to search and click the Search box at the top of the window. Enter the word or phrase you want to find, using the appropriate wildcards. For example, if you want to find all emails that have 'invoice' or 'invoices' in the subject, enter 'subject:invoice*' and press Enter to see the results. You can also use the Search tools tab to refine your search.

4 What are some common wildcards?

Different applications may use different symbols for wildcards, but some of the most common ones are:

- * : This wildcard can represent any number of characters, including zero. For example, book* can match book , books , booklet , or bookstore .

- ? : This wildcard can represent any single character. For example, te?t can match test , text , or teat .

- [ ] : This wildcard can represent any single character within the brackets. For example, b[ae]t can match bat or bet .

- [!] : This wildcard can represent any single character not within the brackets. For example, b[!ae]t can match bit or but , but not bat or bet .

5 How to combine wildcards?

You can combine wildcards to create more complex search patterns, as long as they follow the syntax and logic of the application you are using. For example, you can use:

- * and ? together to specify the length of a word or phrase. For example, ?at* can match cat , cats , or catch , but not at or attach .

- [ ] and [!] together to specify a range or a set of characters. For example, [a-c][!b]t can match act or cat , but not bat or bit .

- * and [ ] together to specify a prefix or a suffix. For example, [a-z]*ing can match any word that ends with ing , such as working , typing , or reading .

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?