Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 22, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021
Becca asked if there is a way to create a default setting so that the first letter following a colon will always be a capital letter. Unfortunately, there is no built-in way to do this in Word. You can, however, create a macro that can be used to step through your document and make sure that each lowercase letter following a colon (and a space) is converted to uppercase.
Sub CapsAfterColon() Selection.Find.ClearFormatting Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting With Selection.Find .Text = ": ([a-z])" .Replacement.Text = ": \1" .Forward = True .Wrap = wdFindContinue .Format = True .MatchCase = False .MatchWholeWord = False .MatchWildcards = True .MatchSoundsLike = False .MatchAllWordForms = False End With Selection.Find.Execute While Selection.Find.Found Selection.Range.Case = wdUpperCase Selection.Collapse direction:=wdCollapseEnd Selection.Find.Execute Wend End Sub
The macro uses a wildcard search to find instances of a colon followed by a space and a lowercase letter. For each instance found, the text is converted to uppercase. The macro searches for and changes the case of all such instances in the document.
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 (13032) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Capitalizing the First Letter after a Colon.
Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!
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