microsoft office - Is it possible to assign a specific style to all cross-references in Word 2007?

Nothing more to add, I would like to change the style of all cross-references I have in a Word 2007 document at once. But I have no idea how to do it. How can this be done?

Answer

Some cross-reference types are automatically formatted with the "intense reference" style, but most are formatted as "normal" text.

To apply the "intense reference" style to the text of the cross reference:

• select the text


• choose the "Home" tab in the ribbon


• using either the up-down buttons or the drop-down button in the "Styles" group of the ribbon, choose the "intense reference" style (or another style if you prefer)

To change the appearance of all text of a given style:

• choose the "Home" tab in the ribbon


• using the drop-down button in the "Styles" group of the ribbon, choose "Apply styles..."


• in the "Apply Styles" dialog box under "Style Name" choose the name of the style you want to change (e.g. "intense reference")


• Click the "Modify..." button


• Change the formatting to suit you and click "OK"

To apply a style to all cross references at once:

• Press Alt+F9 to show field codes


• Select the "Home" tab in the ribbon


• Click on "Replace" in the "Editing" group


• In the "Find what" field, type ^19 REF
  
  
  
  • (That's caret-one-nine-space-R-E-F)
  
  
  
  


• Click in the "Replace with" field, but don't type anything


• Click the "More" button


• The bottom section of the dialog should be titled "Replace" (with a horizontal rule after it)


• Click the "Format" button and select "Style..."


• Choose a style (e.g. "Intense Reference") and click OK


• It should now show the style you selected under the "Replace with" field


• Click "Replace All" if you're feeling brave or use "Find Next" and "Replace" to step through and replace or skip each reference field code's style individually


• Press Alt+F9 to hide field codes

See this page for more information on special codes in Find and Replace.

Here is a macro that will add the switch \* mergeformat to each of the fields. This switch is necessary to keep the formatting from being lost if you do a field update. You can assign the macro to a keystroke and it will step through the fields one at a time for each time you press the keystroke. You can also edit the macro to loop over the whole document to automate the process.

Sub mf()
'
' mf Macro
' Find cross references and add \* mergeformat
'
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "^19 REF"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = True
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute
    Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
    Selection.MoveLeft Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
    Selection.TypeText Text:="\* mergeformat "
    Selection.Find.Execute
End Sub