Microsoft Word Tips, Tricks & Templates » Autoformat

Use AutoCorrect To Write Documents Faster in Microsoft Word

Editor — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 10:55:41 +0000

If you’re reading this post, you’re probably looking for some way to get those business ocuments written that little bit faster, get those emails finished, and get the newsletter out the door before you go home.

Say Hello to AutoCorrect

To automatically detect and correct typos, misspelled words, and incorrect capitalization, use the AutoCorrect feature in Microsoft Word.

How’s it work?

I’m a terrible typist. I always type moeny instead of money.

To save me time fixing this by hand, Autocorrect does it automatically. When I type in a mistake it knows how to enter the correct word.

For example, if you type erport plus a space, then AutoCorrect replaces what you have typed with “report.”

Or if you type ‘Teh Executrie summary states’ with a space, AutoCorrect replaces what you have typed with “The Executive Summary states.”

Note: Text included in hyperlinks is not automatically corrected.

To autocorrect your Word Documents, follow these steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect Options.

2. In the Replace box, type a word or phrase that you often mistype or misspell – for example, type Micorsoft.

3. In the With box, type the correct spelling of the word – for example, type Microsoft.

4. Click Add.

You can also use AutoCorrect to quickly insert symbols that are included in the built-in list of AutoCorrect entries. For example, type (c) to insert (c).

What’s your favorite Microsoft hack?

How to Force Word to Close after it Crashes

Editor — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 06:05:00 +0000

Word crashed. But when you go to re-open it, it refuses to do so. What’s happening here and how do I fix it.

How to Force Word to Close after it Crashes

When Word crashes, the Winword.exe file may still be running behind the scenes. I know.

If it is running, why won’t it open? There is no easy answer to this but here’s how you can get it re-started.

What you have to do is close this the Winword.exe before you re-open Word as otherwise system conflicts may arise, i.e. you may not be able to open Word, as the system sees that Winword.exe is currently running.

To close Winword.exe let’s use the Task Manager

1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL. In the Windows Security dialog box, click Task Manager.

2. On the Processes tab, click any instance of Winword.exe, and then click End Process.

3. Close the Windows Task Manager, and then re-start Word.

Final Tip

One final tip here is that when you re-open Microsoft Word, make sure that the files you were looking for can be opened.

If you have difficulty with this, please take a look at this very detailed tutorial over on the Klariti site.

How to Open and Repair a Damaged Word file

Editor — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:46:51 +0000

You can “force” Word to recover a document after it has crashed. Microsoft Word tries to automatically recover a damaged document if it detects a problem with the file. Here’s how.

Microsoft Word tries to automatically recover a damaged document if it detects a problem with the file.

When this happens, it will re-open Word and show you a version of the document – before it crashed. It may also show you a second version of the document, which will be a second version of the document, usually recovered with the ‘autosave’ function.

How to Recover Text from a Crashed Word file

1. Open Word, and in the File menu, click Open.

2. In the File of type list, click All Files *.*.

3. In the Open dialog box, select your document.

4. Point to the arrow on the Open button, and then click Open and Repair.

This will open the Word file.

The style and formatting may be slightly damaged but you will have most of the text and can, at least, use it to rebuild a new document.

One final suggestion is to copy the material into a new Microsoft Word document, just in case there is some gremlin in the recovered document.

Does this work for you?

Let me know if your system is different. I’m on XP and use 2003 & 2007. Maybe XP is different.

How do I turn off Automatic Hyperlinks in Microsoft Word?

Editor — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:20:56 +0000

One of the most annoying things in Microsoft Word is its tendency to create hyperlinks, when you don’t want it to do so. This is an automatic setting turned on by default. Here is how you turn if OFF. To turn off automatic hyperlinks, follow these steps:

In Microsoft Office Word 2007:

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Word Options.

2. Click Proofing, and then click AutoCorrect Options.

3. On the AutoFormat as you type tab and on the AutoFormat tab, click to clear the Internet and network paths with hyperlinks check box, and then click OK.

4. Click OK to close the Word Options dialog box.

In Microsoft Office Word 2003/ 2002:

1. On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect Options.

2. On the AutoFormat as you type tab and on the AutoFormat tab, click to clear the Internet and network paths with hyperlinks check box.

3. Click OK.

Let me know if this works for you. Any problems, let me know.