Relatively new to macros in word so I'm not sure if there is a functionality that allows for this and if so, need some help figuring out how to write it.



I have paragraphs of text in which I have "hashtags." These are written out as #blahblahblah. What I am hoping to do is run a macro that will look for these #text strings and change the font on the whole "word" (symbol included) to be a different color so they stand out. There are multiple hashtags that change often so a simple "search and change" approach won't work I don't think.

Any advice?

I don't see why a simple Find/Replace wouldn't work, where:
Find = #blahblahblah
Replace = ^&
and you specify the replacement font colour of your choice.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Well I don't think that will work. I have over 20 different #xyz strings and they change every few weeks so I can't enter an individual "find" code for each one. Is there any way to search for "#" and any text attached to it...regardless of what that text is, as long as there is always a # as the "first letter"?

Sure you can! Use a wildcard Find/Replace, where:
Find = \#[a-z]@>
Replace = ^&
and specify the replacement font colour of your choice.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

When i tried copy and pasting "\#[a-z]@>" into the find bar of the find and replace menu option it gives me errors saying it can't find anything in the document. Am I doing something wrong?

Did you check the 'use wildcards' option?

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

That did the trick! I'm gonna try recording a macro while I do this so it will be "automated" with a command button. Thanks!

Wait....spoke to soon... it DIDN'T catch them all. For some reason it caught all the ones listed as "#mentalhealthstigma" or "#compliments" (etc.) but didn't replace the any of the ones that start with "#TAMUCC"...is this because of capital letters or something else? Is there a way to fix it?

Here is a link to the document I am working with, if that is helpful: https://www.dropbox.com/s/g10lc8dgwr...osts.docx?dl=0

Kinda feeling proud like I may have figured it out....

Searching for "\#[A-Z,a-z]@>" seems to have done the trick from what I can tell *overjoyed!*