Microsoft Office applications have lot of hidden features. AutoCorrect is one such feature and many users do not aware of it. In this article, let us explain how to use AutoCorrect and Math AutoCorrect and create custom AutoCorrect shortcuts. Do not confuse this with AutoRecover function which is useful for recovering unsaved documents.
What is AutoCorrect?
As the name indicates, AutoCorrect helps to automatically correct the typed text into different text based on the settings. Office has huge list of pre-defined words to automatically replace with the other words. Here are some popular example, you will notice when typing in Word or Outlook.
| (r) | ® |
| (c) | © |
| accidant | accident |
| loev | love |
AutoFormat and Math AutoCorrect
AutoFormat and Math AutoCorrect are similar to AutoCorrect functions used for different purposes.
- You can type a hyphen (minus) sign and press enter to see, it is converted into a bulleted list. This works based on AutoFormat settings. You will see a lightning arrow when Office applications use AutoFormat option. Click on that to revert to the original text or simply “Control + Z” to undo.
- When you are creating equations with Equation Editor, type \degc to convert it into Degree Celsius symbol like ℃. Though Math AutoCorrect works inside the Equation Editor, you can also enable it to work on the normal text area similar to AutoCorrect options. For both AutoCorrect and Math AutoCorrect, Office will show you small bar. You can click on it to revert to the original text.
Checking AutoCorrect Shortcuts in Office Windows
All Office applications like Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint has AutoCorrect feature. Though the settings may vary a bit, the process should remain same in both Windows and Mac.
- Open any Office application and go to “File > Options”. Click on the “AutoCorrect Options…” under “Proofing” tab.
- For Outlook, go to “File > Options > Mail > Editor Options… > Proofing > AutoCorrect Options…”.
- This will open AutoCorrect settings dialog box and check under “AutoCorrect” tab.
- Here you can see the complete list of pre-defined shortcuts under “Replace text as you type” section. Enable this option, if it is not enabled on your application.
Remember, you should enable AutoCorrect in each application like Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint separately.
Creating Custom AutoCorrect Shortcut
Besides the existing shortcuts, you can create custom keyboard shortcuts if you use some terms frequently. Let us take an example that you want to replace the text 143 with I Love You in Word. In this case, enter 143 in the “Replace” text box and type “I Love You” in “with” text box. Click “Add” button and press “OK” to close all open dialog boxes.
Hereafter, whenever you type 143 and press space, Word will automatically convert it into “I Love You”. You can click on the small bar to revert to original text or press “Control + Z” to undo AutoCorrect. You can delete the shortcut anytime by selecting and clicking on “Delete” button. However, ensure not to delete any pre-defined shortcuts to keep the original settings.
You can stop the AutoCorrect shortcut by choosing “Stop Automatically Correcting…” option without going to settings.
Create AutoCorrect Shortcuts in Microsoft 365 in Mac
Similar to Windows Office version, you can also easily setup custom AutoCorrect shortcuts in Microsoft 365 Mac version.
- Open Word or any other app and navigate to “Preferences…” section by pressing “Command + ,” keys.
- Click on “AutoCorrect” option.
- On the next dialog box, enable “Automatically correct spelling and formatting as you type” and “Replace text as you type” options under AutoCorrect tab.
- You can add new shortcut similarly as explained above for Windows version using “Replace” and “With” text boxes.
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