autotext

Recently a reader wrote to me with an query about AutoComplete in MS Word. Below is the query: "To insert today's date (and/or time) in Word 2007 you are supposed to be able to type the first four characters of the month and AutoComplete will assist ... you. This does not work for me. It is like AutoComplete is not tripped in my Word 2007. Also, when I click on Insert I find nowhere to insert the date from. I have to admit I am a fish out of water with MS Word 2007." -- Mark My reply: Well Mark, you are not the only person who feels like a fish out of water with this newest version of Word but ... (view more)

AutoComplete has been disabled in Word 2007 due to the enormous quantity of Building Blocks (the expanded successor to AutoText) that would otherwise cause AutoComplete to occur just about all the time. Now, what do I do? To force completion after ... typing the first four characters, you'll need to press the F3 key. This will work with any Building Block, not just AutoText. But, it will work only if there are no other entries that begin with the same four letters. Some users are finding it useful to use AutoCorrect entries instead of AutoText entries as a work-around, and to purposely create ... (view more)