Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Capitalizing the First Letter after a Colon.

Capitalizing the First Letter after a Colon

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated November 2, 2013)

3

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:

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 (3461) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Capitalizing the First Letter after a Colon.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Automatically Saving Document Copies on Floppy

WordPerfect included a command that allowed users to save a copy of their current document to the A: drive. Word has no ...

Discover More

Changing Many Link Locations

Word makes it easy to establish links between documents. If you need to change the locations for a lot of links at once, ...

Discover More

Changing Text Case Many Times

You can use the built-in Word shortcut to change the case of a text selection. You may have quite a few items in a ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Controlling Overtype Mode

Some people like to have Word replace previous information as they type; this is called "overtype mode." You can control ...

Discover More

Spacing After Sentences

Word can check to see if you have a consistent number of spaces at the end of your sentences.

Discover More

Inserting a Bullet

Need to place a bullet in the middle of a sentence? There are a couple of easy ways you can do this, as described in this ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 3 + 2?

2016-05-13 04:31:52

Emily

Both the original macro and Pam's modification have been REALLY helpful to me. Thanks!

2014-03-13 11:38:08

Pam

I believe I have figured it out! I changed it to this from what I had in the previous post:

.Text = ":" & vbTab & "([a-z])"
.Replacement.Text = ":" & vbTab & "1"

THIS seems to work!

Love your site, BTW. And I did find your "ribbon version" site as well. I think I need to take a VBA course. I can see the possibilities with this are almost endless.

2014-03-13 11:08:06

Pam

Great macro! I need this for a colon plus tab plus capitalize. I tried just replacing the space in your code with what appears to be the tab code (vbTab) but it didn't work.

.Text = ":vbTab([a-z])"
.Replacement.Text = ":vbTab1"

I am a complete novice at this, so this might not even work. But any ideas?

Thank you!

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR AUTHORS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2018 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.