Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 22, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365
Andy had a document that used the phrase "n-day" quite a bit, and he wanted the "n" to be in italics but the rest of the phrase in regular type. Faced with the task of making the desired formatting change many times over, Andy searched around for a solution using Word's Find and Replace tool.
Andy could search for "n-day" with no problem. However, there was a problem when trying to change just the "n" to italics because Find and Replace only applies formatting changes to the entire Replace With text, not just selected characters.
The solution was to do a two-pass Find and Replace. In the first pass, Andy changed the entire "n-day" phrase to italics. On the second pass he searched for "-day" (without the "n") and replaced it with a non-italic version. The result was just what he wanted, with only the single character in italics.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (10777) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Selective Formatting using Find and Replace.
Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!
Want to copy a format from one place to another without taking your hands off the keyboard? It's easy to do if you apply ...
Discover MoreYou can highlight words and phrases in your document, much the same as you can mark printed words and phrases with a ...
Discover MoreWhen automatically capitalizing the beginning of sentences, Word relies on how you historically have done your typing. ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2023-07-24 09:33:05
Andrew
My preference here would be to format a single instance of the target text ("n-day") as desired and copy it to the clipboard, and then in a single pass replace all occurrences of "n-day" with "^c" (which means replace it with the contents of the clipboard. This way is much more flexible, especially if the target text's formatting is to be more than a simple one-letter font change.
The two- (or multi-) pass method with Find/Replace is an especially useful technique though, especially for context-sensitive replacements that wildcard searches may be inadequate for.
Andy.
Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.
Visit the WordTips channel on YouTube
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments