HomeWinBuzzer TipsHow to Generate Random Text and Lorem Ipsum in Microsoft Word

How to Generate Random Text and Lorem Ipsum in Microsoft Word

We show you how to create random text and Lorem Ipsum in Word so you can quickly create a dummy paragraph or page.

-

Though few know it, there's an easier way to add sample text to than pasting Lorem Ipsum from the web. In fact, the text editor has several random paragraph generators that will help you add a dummy paragraph to a document in progress.

The MS Word Rand trick isn't widely known and produces sample paragraph text about Word's features. You can also produce Lorem Ipsum in Word and “Quick Brown Fox” text to quickly preview a font.

Using Word's in-built random text generator is much quicker than using an online random paragraph generator, yet still gives you a surprising amount of control. Here's how:

How to Insert Random Text in Word with the Rand Formula

If you'd like to use sample text that people can understand, the Rand formula is your friend. Technically, it's not really “random”, producing the same text in the same order each time. However, that doesn't really matter if you're just looking to add some placeholder text in Word. You're probably going to delete it soon anyway.

Anyway, here's how to use the formula:

  1. Type “=Rand()” in your document
     

    Move your cursor to the place in your document that you'd like the insert the text, then type =Rand() and press Enter.

    To change the number of paragraphs and sentences, add some numbers to the brackets. The first number controls the number of paragraphs, and the second the number of sentences within those paragraphs:

    =Rand(12,4)

    You can also specify just the number of paragraphs, like so:

    =Rand(12)

    There is a maximum you can generate in one command – 9560 words. However, there's nothing to stop you from running the command multiple times.

  2. View and edit your random text
     

    Your random text will appear as soon as you press Enter, and will allow you to change its font, position, and color as normal.

How to Insert Lorem Ipsum in Microsoft Word

With the Lorem formula, you can quickly Word filler text out of every designer's favorite: Lorem Ipsum. The advantage of Lorem Ipsum, or Lipsum as it's often known, is that it's unintelligible to most people. That means it's difficult for others to mistake the random content for final text (though it definitely still happens).

  1. Type the “=Lorem()” and press Enter
     

    Again, you can customize the number of paragraphs and sentences by adding numbers between the brackets. Adding “12,3” would create 12 paragraphs of three sentences each:

    =Lorem(12,3)

    Lorem Ipsum in Microsoft Word always starts with “Lorem ipsum dollar sit amet”, and can produce a far greater volume of text in a single command than the MS Word Rand trick.

  2. View and edit your Lorem Ipsum in Microsoft Word
     

    Your Word filler text will instantly and automatically appear when you press enter for you to move and edit as much as you like.

How to Create a “Quick Brown Fox” Dummy Paragraph with the Old Rand Formula

Older versions of Microsoft Word used to use the Rand formula to produce “The Quick Brown Fox Jumped Over the Lazy Dog”. This phrase is useful because it contains every letter of the alphabet to assess how a font will look. However, it gets very repetitive if you produce many paragraphs, hence it being phased out.

Thankfully, you can still access it through the command below:

  1. Type “=Rand.old()” and press Enter.
     

    As with Word's other random text generator formulas, you can specify the number of paragraphs and sentences:

    =Rand.old(4,3)

    The above would produce four paragraphs of “The Quick Lazy Fox”, with the sentence repeated three times in reach paragraph.

  2. View and edit your sample text
     

    Your text will be created instantly for you to edit whichever way you see fit. With Rand.old, it's particularly useful to try out different fonts to find one you like.

That closes up this tutorial, which should have given you a good understanding of how to create placeholder text in Word. However, to get the most of your text editor, you may want to try some of our other . Why not learn how to customize your Word ribbon for greater efficiency or add line numbers to a Word document?

Last Updated on February 14, 2022 7:45 pm CET by Markus Kasanmascheff

Ryan Maskell
Ryan Maskellhttps://ryanmaskell.co.uk
Ryan has had a passion for gaming and technology since early childhood. Fusing the skills from his Creative Writing and Publishing degree with profound technical knowledge, he enjoys covering news about Microsoft. As an avid writer, he is also working on his debut novel.
Table of Contents: