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.
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.
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: 
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 (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.
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!
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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!
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