Changing Character Color

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 21, 2026)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Imagine that you are developing a document that uses text colors to signal special meanings to the reader. For instance, you may use red text to indicate what the user should type. If you are developing a document in which you use color within your text, it can be a real bother to use the menus over and over again to change text colors. In such an instance, it is helpful to have a macro that modifies the color automatically. You can assign the macro to a key combination or a toolbar button so you don't have to use the menus. The following macro changes the color of the currently selected text to red.

Sub MakeRed()
    If Selection.Type = wdSelectionNormal Or _
      Selection.Type = wdSelectionBlock Then
        Selection.Font.ColorIndex = wdRed
    Else
        Beep
    End If
End Sub

If you want to use a different color besides red, change the color assignment made in the macro. (Just change the constant wdRed to the desired color.) VBA allows you to use constants to represent colors. There are seventeen different color numbers available:

Number	Text Color	Word Constant
0	Auto	wdAuto
1	Black	wdBlack
2	Blue	wdBlue
3	Cyan	wdTurquoise
4	Green	wdBrightGreen
5	Magenta	wdPink
6	Red	wdRed
7	Yellow	wdYellow
8	White	wdWhite
9	Dark Blue	wdDarkBlue
10	Dark Cyan	wdTeal
11	Dark Green	wdGreen
12	Dark Magenta	wdViolet
13	Dark Red	wdDarkRed
14	Dark Yellow	wdDarkYellow
15	Dark Gray	wdGray50
16	Light Gray	wdGray25

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 (253) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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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