How to insert sample text into a document in Word (212251)

SUMMARY

Microsoft Word allows you to quickly insert sample text into a document. To do this, type =rand() in the document where you want the text to appear, and then press ENTER.

The inserted sample text appears similar to the following:

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.¶

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.¶

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.¶

This feature is turned on by default, and is disabled when the Replace text as you type option is turned off. To turn this option on or off, click AutoCorrect on the Tools menu, click the AutoCorrect tab, and then click to select or clear the Replace text as you type check box.

To view the paragraph marks (¶) in your Word document, do one of the following:

On the Standard toolbar, click Show/Hide (¶).
On the Tools menu, click Options. On the View tab, click to select the All check box, and then click OK.

Note Word will not insert sample text when the insertion point immediately follows either a PAGE BREAK or a COLUMN BREAK.

MORE INFORMATION

By default, the sample text contains three paragraphs, with each paragraph containing five sentences. You can control how many paragraphs and sentences appear by adding numbers inside the parentheses.

The =rand() function has the following syntax

=rand(p,s)

where p is the number of paragraphs and s is the number of sentences that you want to appear in each paragraph.

Examples:

=rand(1) inserts one five-sentence paragraph of text

=rand(1,1) inserts one one-sentence paragraph of text.

=rand(1,2) inserts one two-sentence paragraph of text

=rand(2) inserts two five-sentence paragraphs of text

=rand(2,1) inserts two one-sentence paragraphs of text

=rand(10) inserts 10 five-sentence paragraphs of text

=rand(10,1) inserts 10 one-sentence paragraphs of text

=rand(10,10) inserts 10 ten-sentence paragraphs of text

Note When you omit the second number, the default is five sentences of text. The maximum number that can be used inside the parenthesis is 200 (this number may be lower depending on the number of paragraphs and sentences specified).