I am trying to find (Word 2000) thin spaces in a file, but it does not find those within textboxes contained in the file. What is the solution?
![]() |
Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don't do it. |
SIGN IN | Not a member? | REGISTER | PLUS MEMBERSHIP |
-
Finding Special characters in Textboxes
Home » Forums » AskWoody support » Productivity software by function » MS Word and word processing help » Finding Special characters in Textboxes
- This topic has 6 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 24 years, 2 months ago.
Viewing 1 reply threadAuthorReplies-
WSRajesh
AskWoody Lounger -
WSGary Frieder
AskWoody LoungerApril 11, 2001 at 4:35 am #522382Rajesh,
I was about to try for a macro to do this, but it looks like the following works:
Click insertion point at the beginning of the first linked textbox. Do a Find/Replace All from there – this will run through the entire group of linked textboxes in one pass.
Just out of curiosity – how are you inserting a thin space, and how are you doing a find on it?
Gary
-
WSRajesh
AskWoody LoungerApril 11, 2001 at 11:44 am #522443Thanks, Gary, for your valuable input.
I know I need to go to every group of linked textboxes and do it — that is what I did ultimately. That was the pain I wanted to avoid, because I wanted to create a macro which could run on a batch of Word 2000 files and remove thin spaces which are not supported in Word 97, and save as RTF for conversion to Word 97.
A thin space is Unicode No 8197 (in ANSI, both a thin space and a keyboard space have place value of 32) and pasting a thin space from Clipboard into the Find Box seems to work.
Replacng a thin space is another problem. I use ^c in the replace box after copying a thin space to clipboard before running the s & r operation — clumsy, but it works.
-
WSGary Frieder
AskWoody LoungerApril 11, 2001 at 10:35 pm #522576Hi,
In case it’s any help, the following macro can be used to do Find/Replaces in all textboxes in a document; however it will error if any of the textboxes are grouped.
Sub GetToTextBoxText() 'Gary Frieder April 2001 'Warning: this code will error if there are grouped text boxes Dim aShape As Shape Dim objTxtRng As Range For Each aShape In ActiveDocument.Shapes Set objTxtRng = aShape.TextFrame.TextRange With objTxtRng With .Find .ClearFormatting .Replacement.ClearFormatting .Text = "FindText" .Replacement.Text = "ReplaceText" .Forward = True .Wrap = wdFindContinue .Format = False .MatchCase = False .MatchWholeWord = False .MatchWildcards = False .MatchSoundsLike = False .MatchAllWordForms = False .Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll End With End With Next aShape End Sub
Gary
-
WSRajesh
AskWoody Lounger
-
-
-
-
WSGary Frieder
AskWoody LoungerApril 6, 2001 at 6:33 pm #521897You should be able to do this via a macro, where you set a range to the wdTextFrameStory and then do the find on that range.
(I’ll try to post a code sample when I get a few moments later, if that helps.)
(And I also remember an earlier macro that did something like this, that ran into complications when it encountered grouped textboxes – not sure what complications linked textboxes might introduce…)Viewing 1 reply thread -

Plus Membership
Donations from Plus members keep this site going. You can identify the people who support AskWoody by the Plus badge on their avatars.
AskWoody Plus members not only get access to all of the contents of this site -- including Susan Bradley's frequently updated Patch Watch listing -- they also receive weekly AskWoody Plus Newsletters (formerly Windows Secrets Newsletter) and AskWoody Plus Alerts, emails when there are important breaking developments.
Get Plus!
Welcome to our unique respite from the madness.
It's easy to post questions about Windows 11, Windows 10, Win8.1, Win7, Surface, Office, or browse through our Forums. Post anonymously or register for greater privileges. Keep it civil, please: Decorous Lounge rules strictly enforced. Questions? Contact Customer Support.
Search Newsletters
Search Forums
View the Forum
Search for Topics
Recent Topics
-
Windows Spotlight broken on Enterprise and Pro for Workstations?
by
steeviebops
5 hours, 28 minutes ago -
Denmark wants to dump Microsoft for Linux + LibreOffice
by
Alex5723
6 hours, 55 minutes ago -
How to get Microsoft Defender to honor Group Policy Setting
by
Ralph
6 hours, 4 minutes ago -
Apple : Paragon’s iOS Mercenary Spyware Finds Journalists Target
by
Alex5723
16 hours, 13 minutes ago -
Music : The Rose Room – It’s Been A Long, Long Time album
by
Alex5723
17 hours, 19 minutes ago -
Disengage Bitlocker
by
CWBillow
7 hours, 17 minutes ago -
Mac Mini M2 Service Program for No Power Issue
by
Alex5723
19 hours, 19 minutes ago -
New Win 11 Pro Geekom Setup questions
by
Deo
3 hours, 59 minutes ago -
Windows 11 Insider Preview build 26200.5651 released to DEV
by
joep517
1 day, 2 hours ago -
Windows 11 Insider Preview build 26120.4441 (24H2) released to BETA
by
joep517
1 day, 2 hours ago -
iOS 26,, MacOS 26 : Create your own AI chatbot
by
Alex5723
1 day, 6 hours ago -
New PC transfer program recommendations?
by
DaveBoston
1 hour, 53 minutes ago -
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22631.5545 (23H2) released to Release Preview
by
joep517
1 day, 10 hours ago -
Windows 10 Build 19045.6029 (22H2) to Release Preview Channel
by
joep517
1 day, 10 hours ago -
Best tools for upgrading a Windows 10 to an 11
by
Susan Bradley
22 hours, 56 minutes ago -
The end of Windows 10 is approaching, consider Linux and LibreOffice
by
Alex5723
2 hours, 58 minutes ago -
Extended Windows Built-in Disk Cleanup Utility
by
bbearren
11 hours, 52 minutes ago -
Win 11 24H2 June 2025 Update breaks WIFI
by
dportenlanger
2 days, 5 hours ago -
Update from WinPro 10 v. 1511 on T460p?
by
CatoRenasci
1 day, 3 hours ago -
System Restore and Updates Paused
by
veteran
2 days, 8 hours ago -
Windows 10/11 clock app
by
Kathy Stevens
1 day, 19 hours ago -
Turn off right-click draw
by
Charles Billow
2 days, 11 hours ago -
Introducing ChromeOS M137 to The Stable Channel
by
Alex5723
2 days, 14 hours ago -
Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys) R.I.P
by
Alex5723
1 day, 8 hours ago -
Master patch listing for June 10, 2025
by
Susan Bradley
2 days, 16 hours ago -
Suggestions for New All in One Printer and a Photo Printer Windows 10
by
Win7and10
1 day, 19 hours ago -
Purchasing New Printer. Uninstall old Printer Software First?
by
Win7and10
2 days, 22 hours ago -
KB5060842 Issue (Minor)
by
AC641
1 day, 10 hours ago -
EchoLeak : Zero Click M365 Copilot leak sensitive information
by
Alex5723
3 days, 5 hours ago -
24H2 may not be offered June updates
by
Susan Bradley
1 day, 22 hours ago
Recent blog posts
Key Links
Want to Advertise in the free newsletter? How about a gift subscription in honor of a birthday? Send an email to sb@askwoody.com to ask how.
Mastodon profile for DefConPatch
Mastodon profile for AskWoody
Home • About • FAQ • Posts & Privacy • Forums • My Account
Register • Free Newsletter • Plus Membership • Gift Certificates • MS-DEFCON Alerts
Copyright ©2004-2025 by AskWoody Tech LLC. All Rights Reserved.