FigureCaption style - edit to say Fig. 1. instead of Figure 1

Question

I use word 2013 and I have a FigureCaption style in my styles menu that formats a figure caption as:

Figure 1. Caption text.

This figure caption style is from a template I have used for years. My document has a lot of figures and they are wonderfully cross-referenced so I don't want to go back and "Insert Caption" to change all of these (and their cross-references). The journal wants Figure 1. to read Fig. 1. I can't figure out how to change this. When I modify the style, I am not allowed to alter the text at all. The formatting options are copied below. Where do I go to access the original text of this style?

Indent: Left: 0.19" Hanging: 0.06", Space Before: 12 pt After: 12 pt, Numbered + Level: 1 + Numbering Style: 1, 2, 3, … + Start at: 1 + Alignment: Center + Aligned at: 0.06" + Indent at: 0.26", Style: Automatically update, Show in the Styles gallery Based on: Normal Following style: Body Text

Solution 1

I figured it out!

1. I right clicked modify in the style I wanted to modify (FigureCaption in my case).
2. There is a button at the bottom that says Format.
3. Clicked it and chose "Numbering". In there I defined my own numbering scheme as Fig. 1.

I am now dealing with funky consequences in my cross-referencing so I am about to try DavidPostill's way

Solution 2

How do I change the text of existing captions?

If you want to change some of the text in the captions, you need to modify the fields used to create the captions. (Automatic captions are implemented through the use of fields in the document.)

You can change the text in the fields by first displaying the field codes in your document (press Shift+F9). You should be able to see what the field codes look like for your captions; examine one to see how it is constructed, looking specifically for the text you want to change.

Next press Ctrl+H to display the Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box. Use the controls in the dialog box to specify the caption text you want to change (from within the field you examined) and what you want the text to be. You can then use the controls to step through all the occurrences of the text and change it, as desired.

There are other things you can change in the fields using this same technique. For instance, you may want to change the numbering of your captions from Arabic to Roman. If you examine the field code used for a caption, it may appear similar to this:

{Seq Figure *\ arabic}

You can easily use the Find and Replace method to change the word "arabic" to "roman." When you are done making the changes, press Alt+F9 to change the field codes back to their results.

Source Changing Existing Captions