Microsoft Office Word Tutorial

Microsoft Word contains a feature called AutoCorrect, that will fix common typographical errors as the user types. By default, AutoCorrect is enabled, but there are several configurable options the user can set to change or control the behaviour of AutoCorrect.

To open AutoCorrect within Word 2007 choose Office > Word Options to open the Word Options dialogue box. Select Proofing > AutoCorrect Options to display the AutoCorrect dialogue box.

The box will contain several tabs, including AutoCorrect, Math AutoCorrect, AutoFormat As You Type, AutoFormat and Smart Tags.

The AutoCorrect tab options will allow you to:

• Show or hide the AutoCorrect buttons
• Automatically correct any occurrences of two adjacent, capitalised letters
• Capitalise the first letter of any sentence.
• Capitalise the first letter in any table cell
• Capitalise the names of days
• Correct accidental usage of the cAPS LOCK key

In the bottom half of the tab, Word also allows you to customise the occurrence of any word you choose. You can create a list of common typographical errors you make, and Word will automatically correct the spelling of these listed words. You can choose to substitute plain or formatted text on your customised word list.

Finally, you can direct the software to replace misspelt words automatically with suggestions from the spell checker.

The behaviour of AutoCorrect can come in handy, but at times, you may find yourself arguing with it when it "corrects" a legitimate text entry. In this case, you can "undo" any unwanted corrections by pressing Ctrl-Z. You can also take advantage of the Smart Tag to restore your uncorrected text.

To use the Smart Tag, hover the mouse over the corrected text. An underline will appear. Mouse over the underline to show the Smart Tag. Select Change back to [N]. [N] represents the original text entry.

The AutoCorrect feature also allows users to insert graphics. This is particularly helpful if you need to insert an electronic signature into a document. By associating an image with a textual phrase, AutoCorrect will insert a graphic in place of a word.

If you wish to use Word in this way, you'll need to scan a copy of your signature and insert it into a document.

Select your signature and choose Office > Word Options > Proofing > AutoCorrect to display the AutoCorrect dialogue box. Click the AutoCorrect tab.

The highlighted signature will appear in the "With" box, in the user-definable replacements section of the tab. Choose "Formatted Text." Under the column labeled "Replace:" enter a distinctive word, code or abbreviation for the signature, and click ok. Avoid using common words like "signature" or "sign" because each time you use the word in a document, your signature will appear!

Click OK and you're finished.

We'll continue our tour of AutoCorrect in future posts.