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Word Not executing cut

SteveD 145 Reputation points
2026-03-12T19:58:53.6866667+00:00

Hello from Steve

Objective is to find .Text = "(*)" then cut and finally

End With

selection.Find.Execute

selection.MoveLeft Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=5

selection.PasteAndFormat (wdFormatOriginalFormatting)

Sub Move_Barrier()

Dim rng As range

Set rng = ActiveDocument.Content

With rng.Find

.ClearFormatting

.Replacement.ClearFormatting

.Text = "\(*\)"

.Forward = True

.Wrap = wdFindStop

.Format = False

.MatchCase = True

.MatchWholeWord = False

.MatchWildcards = False

End With

Do While rng.Find.Execute

rng.Select

selection.Cut

With selection.Find

    .Text = "[0-9]{1,} [A-Z]"

    .Replacement.Text = ""

    .Forward = True

    .Wrap = wdFindStop

    .Format = False

    .MatchCase = False

    .MatchWholeWord = False

    .MatchAllWordForms = False

    .MatchSoundsLike = False

    .MatchWildcards = True

End With

selection.Find.Execute

selection.MoveLeft Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=5

selection.PasteAndFormat (wdFormatOriginalFormatting)

selection.TypeText Text:=" "

rng.Collapse wdCollapseEnd

Loop

End Sub

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows
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  1. Q&A Assist
    2026-03-12T19:59:06.3833333+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    The cut is not executed because the first Find does not actually use wildcards, so .Text = "\(*\)" is treated as literal characters instead of a wildcard pattern. As a result, rng.Find.Execute never finds anything and Selection.Cut never runs.

    To make the first Find work with the pattern \(*\) (any text in parentheses), MatchWildcards must be set to True in that With rng.Find block, and the pattern must be a valid Word wildcard expression.

    Key corrections:

    1. Enable wildcards in the first Find:
    With rng.Find
    .ClearFormatting
    .Replacement.ClearFormatting
    .Text = "\(*\)"   ' text in parentheses
    .Forward = True
    .Wrap = wdFindStop
    .Format = False
    .MatchCase = True
    .MatchWholeWord = False
    .MatchWildcards = True   ' was False
End With
    1. Keep the second Find as a wildcard search (it already has .MatchWildcards = True):
    With Selection.Find
    .Text = "[0-9]{1,} [A-Z]"
    .Replacement.Text = ""
    .Forward = True
    .Wrap = wdFindStop
    .Format = False
    .MatchCase = False
    .MatchWholeWord = False
    .MatchAllWordForms = False
    .MatchSoundsLike = False
    .MatchWildcards = True
End With
    1. Use the Range.Find pattern consistently (optional but more robust) instead of switching to Selection inside the loop. For example:
    Do While rng.Find.Execute
    rng.Cut
    ' work with another Range here instead of Selection
    rng.Collapse wdCollapseEnd
Loop

    The essential fix for the cut not firing is setting .MatchWildcards = True in the first Find so that "\(*\)" is recognized as a wildcard pattern and the loop body (including Selection.Cut) is actually reached.

    References:

    You found this answer helpful.

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