AutoCorrect in MS Office
AutoCorrect is a feature that saves time by automatically
correcting spelling errors or making pre-selected adjustments as you
type. If AutoCorrect is set to make an adjustment, it does so
without any further action from you.
You've probably already noticed the default uses of AutoCorrect
which include changing “teh” to “the” and “adn” to “and.”
AutoCorrect automatically changes (C) to © and (tm) to ™. To adjust
AutoCorrect to your own preferences, go to the Tools menu and select
AutoCorrect. In the pop-up dialog box that appears, note you have
choices such as “Capitalize the First Letter of Sentences” and
“Capitalize Names of Days.” Place a check in the boxes you wish or
uncheck those you have no use for. Note the scrolling list of all
current AutoCorrect words. You can add to or delete from the list as
desired.
AutoCorrect can be set to automatically use suggestions from the
Spell Checker.
Use AutoCorrect to your benefit by creating a code for your
company (like “CCAC” for Community College of Allegheny County) so that, when typed, the entire company name
and address appears. The same technique can be applied to entering a
few initials so that AutoCorrect can supply hard to type words, such
as medical or legal terms.
Advanced features on the AutoCorrect dialog box include Tabs for
AutoFormatting as you type and AutoText, which controls how selected
phrases or even whole paragraphs should be formatted. (Use AutoText
to enter an entire company address or an often-used paragraph with a
few keystrokes. Simply select the text desired and paste it into
the “Enter AutoText entries here” field.) There is also an
Exceptions button on the main AutoCorrect Tab, allowing you to
create specific exceptions to the existing list of corrections. For
example, while it is likely that you want AutoCorrect to capitalize
the first letter of a new sentence, you may not want it to do so
after abbreviations, such as the word approx. With some special
preparation, AutoCorrect can even be used to correct errors in
another language.
The AutoCorrect dialog boxes in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access
are almost identical; however, the AutoFormat as You Type, AutoText,
and AutoFormat Tabs are unique to Word. Any AutoCorrect adjustments
you make in one of these programs is shared with the others.
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