Using Find and Replace to fix formatting in Word.

One of the toughest jobs for a writer or proofreader is making sure that formatting is consistent and meets the standards of any applicable style guide. Word has several tools, such as Styles, that can help with this. One that is little known is the ability to include formatting in Find and Replace operations. The screen clipping below shows how you might use this in a scenario where every instance of the word "Video" that is capitalized needs to also be bold and underlined. After opening the Find and Replace dialog (Home/Editing/Replace or CTRL+H), tell it how to find the text you want. The screen clipping shows using the "Match case" and "Find whole words only" options. You can include formatting options in the find criteria, although that was not necessary for this scenario.

Since this scenario doesn't require changing the text, there is no need to put any text in the Replace with: box. Just put the cursor there and select any of the formatting options shown on the pop-up menu from the Format button.

Few people consistently need Word's ability to use formatting in Find and Replace, but it is a powerful and convenient for people who need consistency.

My favorite math: Saving someone 10 minutes a day saves them over 40 hours a year.