Word Select All Equations: How to Select Every Equation

Updated 4 November 2026 · Standard formula, shown below

If you are asking “Word select all equations?” the direct answer is: use Word’s Find and Replace with the ^g wildcard to select all equations at once, or press Ctrl+A to select everything in the document (including equations) and then filter. The fastest way to select only equations is to use the Navigation Pane’s search with ^g (which finds all graphics, and equations are treated as inline graphics), then press Ctrl+A while the results are shown to select them all.

Why Selecting All Equations Is Tricky

Microsoft Word does not have a built-in “select all equations” button. Equations created with the Equation Editor (Insert > Equation) are stored as special objects, not as plain text. They behave like inline images or OLE objects. This means the usual text selection shortcuts (triple-click, Shift+Arrow) only grab one equation at a time. If you have a long document with dozens of equations, manually selecting each one is tedious and error-prone.

However, Word provides a workaround using its search functionality. Every equation object is internally considered a “graphic” for search purposes, even if it looks like a formula. This quirk is the key to selecting them all at once.

How to Select All Equations (Step-by-Step)

Follow these steps to select every equation in your document. This works in Word 2016, 2019, 2021, and Microsoft 365 on Windows. Mac steps are similar but use Command instead of Ctrl.

Open your document in Word.
Press Ctrl+H to open the Find and Replace dialog box.
Click the More button if the dialog is collapsed.
In the Find what field, type ^g (this is the code for “graphic” objects).
Click Find In and choose Main Document. Word will list all graphics in the Navigation Pane.
Press Ctrl+A to select all the found items. This selects every graphic, which includes all equations.
Now you can delete, copy, format, or change the font of all equations at once.

Note: This method also selects any other inline images (pictures, icons, shapes) in your document. If you have a mix of images and equations, you will need to manually deselect the images by holding Ctrl and clicking each one.

Alternative: Using the Navigation Pane

If you prefer not to use the Find and Replace dialog, you can use the Navigation Pane:

Go to the View tab and check Navigation Pane.
In the search box at the top of the Navigation Pane, type ^g and press Enter.
Word will show all graphics (including equations) in the results list.
Click on the results list, then press Ctrl+A to select all of them.

This achieves the same result as the Find and Replace method.

What About Selecting Only Equations (Not Images)?

If your document contains both images and equations and you want to select only the equations, you have a few options:

Manual selection with Ctrl+Click: After selecting all graphics, hold Ctrl and click each image to deselect it. This is practical if you have only a few images.
Use the Selection Pane: Go to Home > Select > Selection Pane. This shows a list of all objects on the current page. You can click each equation name (usually “Equation” or “Object”) while holding Ctrl to select multiple.
Use a macro: If you frequently need to select only equations, you can record a macro that searches for ^g and then filters out non-equation graphics. This requires a bit of VBA knowledge.

Common Problems and Fixes

Here are typical issues users encounter when trying to select all equations:

^g doesn’t find anything: Make sure you are typing the caret (^) correctly. On most keyboards, it is Shift+6. Also, ensure there are equations in the document (not just text).
Selects too much: As mentioned, ^g selects all graphics. If you only want equations, you must deselect images manually.
Equations are not treated as graphics: In some older versions of Word, equations created with the legacy Equation Editor (from Windows 2000/XP) might not be found by ^g. In that case, try searching for ^o (OLE objects) instead.
Can’t select after search: After pressing Ctrl+A in the Navigation Pane, make sure you click on the results list first. If the focus is still in the search box, Ctrl+A will select the text in the search box, not the results.

Why Would You Need to Select All Equations?

There are several practical reasons to select all equations at once:

Change font size or style: You can quickly make all equations larger or smaller, or change the font from Cambria Math to another supported font.
Copy equations to another document: Select all and copy/paste to move them to a new file.
Delete all equations: If you need to remove all formulas, selecting them all and pressing Delete is much faster than deleting one by one.
Apply paragraph formatting: You might want to center all equations or add spacing before/after them.
Convert to another format: If you are exporting to a format that doesn’t support equations, you might want to convert them to images or text.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Ctrl+A select all equations?

Ctrl+A selects everything in the document, including equations, but also all text, images, tables, and other objects. It does not isolate equations. If you want to select only equations, use the ^g search method described above.

Can I select all equations in a specific section?

The ^g method selects all graphics in the whole document. To limit to a section, you can first select the section text, then use the Find In > Current Selection option (instead of Main Document). This will only search within the selected text.

Why does ^g find images but not my equations?

If your equations were created with the older Equation Editor 3.0 (from Windows 2000/XP), they might be stored as OLE objects rather than inline graphics. Try searching for ^o (OLE object) instead of ^g.

How do I select all equations in Word for Mac?

The process is the same as on Windows, but use Command instead of Ctrl. Press Command+H to open Find and Replace, type ^g, click Find In > Main Document, then press Command+A.

Can I select all equations using a keyboard shortcut?

There is no default keyboard shortcut for selecting all equations. However, you can create a custom macro and assign a shortcut to it. The macro would use the Find/Replace with ^g and then select all results.

What if I want to select all equations but not change them?

Selecting them is just the first step. Once selected, you can copy them, group them, or simply observe the count. The selection itself doesn’t change anything until you perform an action.

Limitations and Notes

This method relies on Word’s internal representation of equations as graphics. It works for equations created with the built-in Equation Editor (Insert > Equation) in modern Word versions. If you are using a third-party equation editor (like MathType), the objects may be different and the ^g search might not find them. In that case, check the add-in’s documentation for a “select all” feature.

Also, note that selecting all equations will not select the equation labels (if you have numbered equations with captions). Those are separate text elements.

Finally, if you have a huge document with thousands of equations, selecting all of them might slow down Word temporarily. This is normal.

Method: the standard formula for this calculation, rounded as each result states. See how the calculators work or report an error.