6.4. Controlling AutoCorrect The AutoCorrect feature packs more punch than you may expect, and it works across several of the Office programs, including Word, Publisher, and Outlook. With AutoCorrect, if you accidentally type hte , Word changes it to "the." The program doesn't ask you for permission (it comes with AutoCorrect turned on). You may not even notice when Word makes the change. Obviously, AutoCorrect is not a feature for control freaks. On the other hand, there's some surprising power in the concept. Have you ever tried to figure out how to type the symbol? If you have AutoCorrect on, and you type (c), it magically turns into the copyright symbol. That's just the beginning. AutoCorrect lets you enter a lot of other symbols right from the keyboard, from math symbols to arrows to smiley faces. And just imagine, if you work for the American Gastroenterological Association , wouldn't it be great to type in aga and let AutoCorrect type in all those words, especially that middle one? 6.4.1. How AutoCorrect Works AutoCorrect changes words immediately after you type them, so you see the change when it happens right behind your insertion point. If you don't like what AutoCorrect did, press Ctrl+Z to undo it. The text goes back to the characters you typed, and AutoCorrect won't mess with it again. 6.4.2. Fine-tuning AutoCorrect Options Given that AutoCorrect's reason for being is to change the words that you write, it's important to know how to bring it under control. To adjust AutoCorrect settings, open the AutoCorrect dialog box (Office button Word Options Proofing AutoCorrect Options). You can also jump to the AutoCorrect dialog box from any word in your text with a wavy red spelling line. Right-click the word, and then choose AutoCorrect AutoCorrect Options from the shortcut menu. The AutoCorrect dialog box gives you access to a lot of settings, so it may take a few moments to sort out how all the options work. At the very top, the "Show Auto-Correct Options buttons checkbox controls whether or not the little lightning-bolt menu buttons (Figure 6-11) show up in your text. | | Figure 6-11. If you see a hollow blue line under a character or you see a lightning bolt, AutoCorrect is at work. When you move your mouse cursor to the spot, you see a shortcut menu like this providing AutoCorrect options. Using this shortcut menu is the fastest way to make AutoCorrect stop autocorrecting something you don't want it to! | | The checkboxes at the top of the AutoCorrect dialog box all deal with common typos and finger flubs (Figure 6-12). | | Figure 6-12. AutoCorrect likes to mess with your words as you type them. Fortunately, you can rein it in using this box. Use the checkboxes at the top to turn on (or off) AutoCorrect's fixes for some common typos. The box at bottom lists the changes AutoCorrect makes. By adding your own replacement pairs to this list, you can even use AutoCorrect as if it were AutoText. | |
Tip: As shown in this example, you can use the AutoCorrect feature as if it were AutoText. The difference is AutoCorrect automatically turns aga into American Gastroenterological Association. When you use AutoText, you need to press the F3 key after you type aga . So, it's your choice: AutoCorrect for fewer keystrokes, or AutoText for manual control.
The most important checkbox is smack in the middle of the box: "Replace text as you type." When this box is turned on, AutoCorrect corrects spelling errors and makes other replacements as you type. The list box below shows the text that AutoCorrect looks for (on the left) and the text that it uses as a replacement (on the right). Use the scroll bar to browse through the whole list. If you turn on the checkbox at the bottom, AutoCorrect also automatically corrects misspelled words using the same dictionary as for spell checks. No wavy underline. Just fixed spelling. In addition to controlling how AutoCorrect works, you even get to decide what errors it correctsby editing the Replace and With lists in this dialog box. Here's how to add your own entry to the list of replacements AutoCorrect makes: -
Choose Office button Word Options Proofing. At the top of the Proofing panel, click the AutoCorrect Options button . The AutoCorrect dialog box opens. -
Make sure the "Replace text as you type" checkbox is turned on . This checkbox is AutoCorrect's master on/off switch. -
In the Replace text box, type aga , and then press Tab. In the With box, type American Gastroenterological Association , and then click Add . You've just told Word to be on the lookout for the sequence of letters "aga," and to replace it with "American Gastroenterological Association." -
Click OK to close the AutoCorrect box, and then click OK to close Word Options .
Note: If AutoCorrect is making replacements you don't like, you can fix this by deleting pairs from this list. Suppose every time you type are , AutoCorrect tries to replace it with "Association of Restaurant Entrepreneurs." To remove this annoyance, select the pair "are" and "Association of Restaurant Entrepreneurs," and then click Delete. If you choose "Stop Automatically Correcting" from the AutoCorrect Options button menu (Figure 6-11), Word deletes that entry from the list.
6.4.3. Autocorrecting Math, Formatting, and Smart Tags AutoCorrect is more than a spelling correction tool. A better term may be AutoReplace , since it can apply automatic formatting fixes to mathematical symbols and special text characters like quotation marks and dashes. The AutoCorrect feature also governs Smart Tagsthose little "i" buttons that pop up and save you time by performing actions that you'd normally have to open other programs to do. (See the box in Section 6.4.3 for more detail on Smart Tags.) As on the AutoCorrect tab, the Math AutoCorrect, AutoFormat, and Smart Tag tabs let you turn certain kinds of fixes on or off. The Math tab also has Replace and With lists that let you type fancy math symbols by hitting a few letters on the keyboard. -
Math . Go to Office button Word Options Proofing AutoCorrect Options and click the Math AutoCorrect tab to see how AutoCorrect gives you quick access to math symbols. Sure, you could hunt down some of these symbols with Words symbol tool (Insert Symbols Symbol), but if you use the same math symbols frequently, AutoCorrect provides quicker, easier access. You can customize Math AutoCorrect by typing characters in the Replace and With boxes. It works just like the AutoCorrect tool for words. -
Formatting . Go to Office button Word Options Proofing AutoCorrect Options, AutoFormat As You Type tab or AutoFormat tab. Have you ever wondered how Words smart quotes feature works? You enter straight quotes (?), actually the symbol for inches, on both sides of a quote, yet Word automatically provides curly quotes, curled in the proper direction on both ends of the quote. That's AutoCorrect working behind the scenes. AutoCorrect can jump into action when you start making a numbered list or a bulleted list. It can provide a respectable em dash (), every time you type two hyphens. The AutoFormat options are presented as checkboxes. Just turn on the ones you want to use. | UP TO SPEED Smart Tags | | As you're typing in Word, any number of little helpers pop up from time to time. There's the mini-toolbar, the Auto-Correct Options button, those wavy red lines that the spell checker lays down. And then there are Smart Tags (Figure 6-13). Microsoft's underlying idea is a perfectly good oneto let you share information and features among Office programs with fewer mouse clicks. So, for example, when you type the name of an Outlook Contact in a Word document, the Smart Tag appears in your document, with a dotted purple line and a little "i" for information button that reveals a shortcut menu when you click it. You can choose from the menu and send an email, schedule a meeting, or insert an address without the extra steps of launching Outlook and tracking down the contact's name all over again. When you're typing somebody's name, Word figures that you may be thinking of that person and puts a few typical options at your fingertips. If you're one of those "shut up and let me type" types, you can turn off Smart Tags in the AutoCorrect dialog box. Just click the Smart Tags tab, and then turn off the "Show Smart Tag Actions buttons" checkbox. | -
Smart Tags . Go to Office button Word Options Proofing AutoCorrect Options, Smart Tags tab. Words Smart Tags work behind the scenes as you type, looking for connections between your words and other resources. Type a name, and Smart Tags checks to see if that person is in your Outlook address book. If the person is, a dotted purple line appears under the name. Move your mouse over the word, and you see the Smart Tag "i" for information button. Click this button, and you can shoot an email off to your pal. Smart Tags perform a number of other tasks , like converting measurements and adding dates to your calendar. You can adjust the settings in the Smart Tags tab of the AutoCorrect box: Click the "Label text with smart tags" box to turn Smart Tags on, and then use the other checkboxes to choose the type of words you want tagged. | | Figure 6-13. If you let them, Smart Tags appear in your document as little shortcut menus that link to information in other Microsoft programs. Choose from the menu to perform tasks like sending email or scheduling meetings. | | |