If you use Microsoft Word, you may notice that at the end of a letter, if you start typing ‘Sin’, a little yellow box flashes up with ‘Sincerely’ in it. Likewise, if you start a letter with ‘To whom’, the box flashes at you with ‘To whom it may concern’.
These little yellow boxes are part of Word’s Auto-Complete and Auto Format functions. Microsoft Word tries to guess what you are going to type next and flashes suggestions to you. If the suggestion is correct and you press Enter on your keyboard, Word quickly enters the word or phrase in your document.You also notice it when you mistype the as hte and Word corrects it for you.
1. You can add to the library of Auto-Complete phrases by following these steps in Word 2003 and all prior versions:
2. Click Tools from the Word menus
3. Click Auto Correct
4. Click the Auto Complete tab (Auto Text in Word XP)
5. Type as many entries as you would like and press Enter on your keyboard after each one (your name, company, church name, etc)
Auto-Correct takes the automation a step further. Use it to replace an abbreviation or a few characters into an entire phrase or sentence or paragraph if you like. For example, if I type ‘rc’ in Word, as soon as I push the space bar, Word inserts ‘Rick Castellini, MCP’. Here’s how to use it:
1. Follow Steps 1-3 above
2. Type a short phrase or abbreviation in the “Replace” box
3. Type what you want Word to insert in place of that phrase in the “With” box
4. Press enter on your keyboard
Word 2007 users can find the AutoCorrect by:
1. Click the Office Orb in the upper left hand corner
2. Click Word Options
3. Click Proofing
4. Click the AutoCorrect options button and follow the steps as above.
Try these simple, but highly effective techniques and you will find yourself starting to save some time when word processing. I have put together a short video demonstration for you to see this tip in action below.
