Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 18, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365
When writing macros, you can use the Asc function to determine the ANSI value of the first letter of a string. In early versions of BASIC, Asc returned the ASCII value, but Word uses only ANSI values. The function uses the following format:
x = Asc(sMyString)
where x is the variable that the ANSI value should be assigned to, and sMyString is the string to be analyzed.
Note:
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12314) 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: Determining an ANSI Value.
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