AutoCorrect
AutoCorrect is a great feature that will automatically alter certain text, such as correcting common typing mistakes. For example if I type ‘yuo’, as soon as I hit the space bar to continue typing Microsoft Word will correct it to ‘you’. This feature will most likely pick up the majority of your typing errors without you even noticing, so that when you come to use Spell Check it will only find a few, fairly obscure mistakes.
This feature is enabled by default when you install Microsoft Word, however if you’ve turned it off for whatever reason it can be re-enabled easily using these steps:
Word 2003 or earlier – This feature can be found in the Tools menu.
Word 2007 or later – Select the File tab in the ribbon at the top of the screen and then select Options and click on Proofing. In the resulting menu, click on ‘AutoCorrect Options’.
You’ll notice from the resulting menus that you are able to see exactly which typos will be automatically corrected and to what, as well as adding your own if you know you’re often guilty of mistyping particular words. You can also use this feature to save yourself time by adding new corrections which will allow you to use shorthand for regularly used long words. For example, if you’re a palaeontologist you might find it useful to add a new correction which will change ‘palae’ into the full word. There’s not much point in adding hundreds of new corrections that you won’t remember the shorthand for, but by adding a few that you’ll use regularly you can make life easier for yourself.
So that’s it – This feature in conjunction with Spell Check are very useful and can save you a lot of headache if you apply them to every document you create. I hope you’ve found this AutoCorrect Tutorial helpful, please feel free to leave me feedback by completing the form at the bottom of the page.
Looking for more? Return to Microsoft Word Tutorials or the Office Software homepage
