Well, I shut Word between the different sessions (i.e., when I first posted the loop problem and when Graham responded), so it seems unlikely that something is "sticking." However, I added this:

I think that accomplishes the same thing as what you suggest, right? However, it had no effect on the endless loop.

I think I may have to back up and maybe use the Selection object to just test characters (i.e., "^?") instead of whatever this is doing. I'm unfamiliar with the Range object; stepping through this macro puzzles me, because it finds whole swaths of highlighted text at once, instead of just one character.

Then again, that's what happens when you search for no text with "Highlight" in the Find and Replace box.

I don't know what to think.