Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Applying Bold Italics.

Applying Bold Italics

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 3, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365

As I am formatting documents, there are many times I need a particular word or passage to be formatted in both bold and italics. Word includes tools (on the Home tab of the ribbon) that apply bold and italics, but not bold italics. I got tired of doing two clicks, so I created my own tool to apply both formats at once. The resulting macro can then be assigned to the Quick Access Toolbar.

The simplest way to do this is with a macro:

Sub BoldItalics1()
    Selection.Font.Bold = True
    Selection.Font.Italic = True
End Sub

This macro turns on the attributes, but it doesn't do any toggling. In other words, you can't turn off bold italics by using the same macro, as you can with the individual Bold and Italics tools. This led to the "next generation" macro, which essentially checks to see the state of the selected text before making any changes:

Sub BoldItalics2()
    With Selection.Font
        If .Bold And .Italic Then
            .Bold = False
            .Italic = False
        Else
            .Bold = True
            .Italic = True
        End If
    End With
End Sub

The macro checks to see if the Bold and Italic properties are set for the selection. If so, then it turns off those properties; if not, it sets them to True. The result is that your selection will be set either to "full" bold and italic or those properties will be turned off—you won't end up with the properties mixed.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12122) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Applying Bold Italics.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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