Searching for Text that Does Not Have a Certain Format

Word has a very powerful search capability that allows you to find not just text, but the formats of text as well. Many Word users already know how to search for character formats, but you may not know that you can also search for characters that do not have a certain formatting property. To search for characters lacking a certain format, follow these steps:

1. Choose Find from the Edit menu, or press Ctrl+F. (In Word 2007 you display the Home tab of the ribbon and click on Find in the Editing group, or you simply press Ctrl+F.) Word displays the Find tab of the Find and Replace dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
2. Click on the More button if it is available.
3. Delete anything in the Find What box and click on the No Formatting button if it is available.
4. Click on the Format button, then choose Font. Word displays the Find Font dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.) Notice that all the character attributes (Superscript, Subscript, and so on) in the Effects area are shaded. This means these attributes do not matter; they are ignored by Word when searching.
5. Select the character attributes you don't want the matched text to have. Make sure the check box beside the attribute is cleared.
6. Click on OK.
7. Click on Find Next.