Using AutoCorrect Effectively – Microsoft Word Tip

In an earlier post, we had shown you how to use AutoText effectively. In this post, we take a closer look at yet another underrated feature of Microsoft Word called AutoCorrect.

With AutoText, you were able to save and reuse complex pre-formatted content units such as tables. However, many a time you need to use pre-formatted text such as product names. This is when AutoCorrect is useful.

For example, a company’s branding guidelines  may require product names to be written as shown in the image below.

In addition, the guidelines may also require that the words in the product name should never be split across multiple lines. For example, the image below shows how the product name should never be written.

The correct way to write a product name is shown in the image below.

One way is to:

1. Type and format the product name correctly.
2. Use copy and paste to ensure that the product name is reproduced correctly.

A simpler way is to use make the product name an AutoCorrect entry and reuse it as and when required.

Creating an AutoCorrect Entry

1. Type and format the text that you want to store as the AutoCorrect entry.
2. Select the text.
3. On the File menu, click Options.
   The Word Options dialog box is displayed.
4. From the list on the left, select Proofing.
5. In the right-pane, click AutoCorrect Options.
   The AutoCorrect dialog box is displayed.
6. In the Replace text as you type section:
   1. Against With, ensure that Formatted text is selected.
      The formatted product name is displayed in the text box under With.
   2. In the Replace box, type a shortcut the you want to use to insert the product name. For example, pn.
   3. Click Add.
      The entry is now displayed in the AutoCorrect entries.
7. In the AutoCorrect dialog box, click OK.
8. In the Word Options dialog box, click OK.

Using the AutoCorrect Entry

• In any document, type pn and press the space bar.
  The shortcut is replaced by the text.

Watch a video tutorial that explains how to use the AutoCorrect feature in Microsoft Word.