Hi.
Using find & replace & wildcards, I am trying to select text that comes after a colon so that I can format it bold. I am using the following: ( : )(^32)(*^13). This finds the colon and the text after the colon, but I only want the text after the colon to be selected. In the 'replace what' box I just want the text after the colon to be formatted bold. I've tried \1\2\3, but that bolds the colon and the text and if I just use \2\3 the colon disappears altogether. What am I doing wrong?
Any help would be very much appreciated!

Try first replacing : with xmx: then use the second option then replace xmx with a colon.

Formatting applied via Find Replace always applies to the entire found string.

FWIW, your Find/Replace expression could be reduced to (for example):
Find = (: )(*^13)
Replace = \1\2
Regardless, formatting the space after the colon as bold seems rather pointless. I would suggest two Find/Replace operations
Find = : (*^13)
Replace = §\1
replacement = bold
Find = §
Replace = :^32
replacement = not bold

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

Hi,

Thank you very much Charles & Paul for your help 👍.

David