Even using VBA, it is necessary to first unprotect the document
ActiveDocument.Unprotect
ActiveDocument.FormFields("Text1").Range.Words(2).Font.Bold = True
ActiveDocument.Protect wdAllowOnlyFormFields, NoREset

Signature
Please post any further questions or followup to the newsgroups for the
benefit of others who may be interested. Unsolicited questions forwarded
directly to me will only be answered on a paid consulting basis.
Hope this helps
Doug Robbins - Word MVP
>
> Is there any way to add font formatting such as Bold or
> Italics to selected words in a text field without
> unlocking the form?