[1125] Using Regular Expressions in Word's Find and Replace Function

Microsoft Word doesn’t fully support traditional regular expressions (RegExp) but offers a wildcard-based Find and Replace function that behaves similarly. Here’s how to use it effectively:

1. Enabling Wildcards

1. Press Ctrl + H to open Find and Replace.
2. Click More >>, then check Use wildcards.

2. Common Wildcard Patterns

• ? → Matches any single character.
• * → Matches any string of characters.
• [abc] → Matches a, b, or c.
• [0-9] → Matches any digit.
• {n} → Matches exactly n occurrences.
• {n,} → Matches n or more occurrences.
• {n,m} → Matches between n and m occurrences.

3. Example: Converting Citation Numbers to Superscripts

If you want to find numbers inside square brackets ([1], [12], etc.) and convert them to superscripts:

1. Find what: \[([0-9]{1,3})\]
2. Replace with: \1
3. Click Format → Font, then check Superscript.
4. Click Replace All.

4. Updating Fields

After replacing, press Ctrl + A and F9 to update all fields.

For further details, check Microsoft’s guide or this tutorial. Let me know if you need specific refinements! 😊

To match single-digit numbers (0-9) and two-digit numbers (10-99) using regular expressions, you can use the following patterns:

• Single-digit numbers: ^\d$

  • This matches any number from 0 to 9.

• Two-digit numbers: ^\d{2}$

  • This matches numbers from 10 to 99.

• Both single and two-digit numbers: ^\d{1,2}$

  • This matches numbers from 0 to 99.

If you need to exclude 0 and only match positive integers, use:

• Single-digit (1-9): ^[1-9]$
• Two-digit (10-99): ^[1-9]\d$
• Both (1-99): ^[1-9]\d?$

For more details, you can check this guide or this reference. Let me know if you need further refinements! 😊