Tip #16 - Automate Data Entry with AutoCorrect

100 Computer Tips in 100 Days

Tip #16 - Automate Data Entry with AutoCorrect

The AutoCorrect option from the File tab.

I’m sure you've seen AutoCorrect in action in your Word documents. For those of you who like to press the Enter key at the end of each line (we’ll talk to you another time), you've noticed that Word automatically capitalizes the first character of the next line (technically it’s a new paragraph but we’re not going there now either). You might not have noticed that Word will automatically correct other common spelling/typing errors without asking you about them. If you accidentally type “teh” it will be automatically changed to “the”. Get the “i” and the “e” in the wrong positions in “receive” and it’s fixed automatically. Imagine how many misspellings you would have if Word wasn't helping you!

Creating your own AutoCorrect
option.

I want to show you a terrific shortcut -- how you can create your own AutoCorrect entries so that when you type “usl” Word changes it to “US Lend Inc”, the name of your company. To create your entry, Click the File tab à Options à Proofing à AutoCorrect Options (Tools menu, AutoCorrect for Apple users).

Use the “Replace:” box to enter the text that you will type in the document (no spaces please) and use the “With:” box to identify the replacement text. When finished click the “Add” button.

Now try it out in your document. Type your “replace” text and press the spacebar. Voila!  Now get creative. You can insert paragraphs of information. Maybe you need a disclaimer inserted in some documents, make an autocorrect entry for it. In that case you would select the text in the document first and then go to the File tab à Options à Proofing à AutoCorrect Options. The “With:” box is populated with the selected text. Type an entry in the replace box, click Add and you’re done.

Note: Be sure that your “replace” text doesn't spell a word or you’ll never be able to use that word again!

Happy Computing! See you tomorrow. - Diane