Are you taking advantage of autocorrect in Word and Google Docs? We don’t often think about this command as it tirelessly works in the background to help us with using symbols and spelling or typing corrections.
But you can use it for so much more.
From correcting your most mis-typed words (for me, that’s ‘tot he’ instead of ‘to the’), to saving time typing in those long or frequently typed words or phrases.
It’s up to you how you want to use them to help you become more productive.
Important: With both of these options, don’t use real words!
For example, say you want to type in an email address, if you use email or add (which are words in their own right), when you press space, they will be replaced with the email address you setup. Always use something that won’t be confused with things that you type.
Google Docs – Substitutions
While it basically does the same thing, Google needs to be a little different so their version is called ‘Substitutions’.
Whatever it’s called, there are still ways of taking advantage of autocorrect in Google Docs.
If you prefer, you can also choose to watch the video to show you this option – Add automatic substitutions into Google Docs – A quick and easy guide (YouTube)
Where is the option?
Look under the Preferences command in the Tools menu.
There you’ll see two options at the top – simply click on Substitutions.
Add your own option
At the top of the dialog box, you can see Replace and With, followed by blank fields.
Simply type what you wanted changed into the Replace option, and the correction or alternative in the With box.
As you type into the ‘With’ option, your entry is added to the list, and a new blank row added.
You don’t have to do anything else to the row (like press enter).
When you’ve added any other options that you want, click OK to save them.
Use it in the document
One of the things that makes Autocorrect or rather Substitutions so useful and easy, is that it automatically ‘kicks in’ as you type the relevant ‘replace’ option and press space or Enter.
You might want to test what you’ve entered immediately.
Why?
Because I found my ‘go to’ example (tot he) didn’t work, as expected.
When I typed it in, and pressed space – nothing happened.
Google Docs picked it up as an error, and underlined it.
Clicking on the underlined text showed me the correct option, which I could select and fix, but that’s more steps that I ideally want.
But if you try it with any of the built in options, then it works.
My ‘educated’ guess is that because ‘tot’ is a real word, Docs is a bit confused about if it should be corrected. Only when I type in ‘tot he’ which makes no sense does it suggest the correction.
I’ve tried it with my initials – and it worked as expected.
Be aware of Upper and Lowercase
However, depending on how you’ve typed in the ‘Replace’ text (it doesn’t have to match the case in the Preferences), the ‘With’ will try to match the case in the document.
This can be annoying, if it’s not how you want the phrase/info to appear.
For example, with my initials MRK
- If it’s all in caps (MRK) then it will appear the same i.e. MICHELLE KAYE
- First letter cap (Mrk) makes my name appear as Michelle kaye
- You’ve guessed, if it’s all lowercase (mrk), then the full phrase matches (michelle kaye)
This means that you need to be aware of the case that you’re typing in, and how it will be used.
There’s a good chance that you will still need to manually edit it, to correct things.
MS Word – AutoCorrect
First thing to note, in Microsoft Word, there are two ‘auto’ commands – AutoCorrect and AutoText.
The main differences between them are:
- How many characters they can store
- The action used to activate them
AutoCorrect – has a character limitation of 255, and is activated by space or return.
AutoText – a stupidly high limit that feels that there isn’t one, and is activated by F3 or a screen tip.
In this post, I’m focusing on AutoCorrect (to match Google Docs Substitutions).
Note: Google Docs doesn’t have an alternative to AutoText, that I can find, which is why it’s not being covered in this post.
AutoCorrect’s Location
Considering how useful this option is, Microsoft decided to slightly hide it, under the Word Options dialog box.
Click on File to open the Backstage, and select Options in the bottom left corner.
Now in the dialog box, click Proofing from the left side menu.
And finally click on the button AutoCorrect Options…
This opens another dialog box, and finally the actual command.
Add in your option
In the AutoCorrect dialog box, you will see the option ‘Replace text as you type’.
You might notice that the two options are the same as for Google Docs.
Note: Word’s had these options for years, so actually Google copied them. 😁
Type into Replace, the text to look for.
Your mis-typing (e.g. tot he), mis-spelling (e.g. accesibility) or word/phrase/acronym.
Click or tab over to With, and type in the correction.
- to the
- accessibility
Click Add.
It will be moved down and into the list, the fields cleared ready for another option.
Click OK when you’re done to close the dialog box and return to the document.
Test it out
As before, give it a go, to check that it’s working.
Type in the text and press space or Enter.
Did it work?
Hopefully you’re answering yes (AutoCorrect don’t let me down), and if not, then consider what happened.
Go back to the AutoCorrect dialog box.
You can edit ones in the list.
Removing an Option
Most of the time, you’ll tend to add options that you realise you’re typing in a lot, so they’ll be in your list forever.
But there may be times that you want the correction for a period of time – perhaps you’re working on a project and when it’s done you don’t need the AutoCorrect / Substitution any more.
You can of course return to the option and remove them.
Google Docs – Remove Substitution
Open the dialog box (Tools > Preferences > Substitutions).
Scroll down to find the option.
Click on the ❌ (black cross) at the end of the row.
Note: It will be immediately removed.
Then click OK to close the dialog box.
Word – Remove Replace As You Type
Open the dialog box (File > Options > Proofing > AutoCorrect Options…)
Scroll down to find the option.
Click on it, to make it appear in the Replace and With fields at the top of the list.
Click the Delete button.
Note: It will also be immediately removed. However the options are still in the Replace and With fields, so you can add them back in if needed.
Click OK to close the AutoCorrect Options.
Click OK on the Word Options dialog box to close that and return to your document.
Next Steps
Have a think about how you can use these options.
Are there words or phrases that you’re always typing in?
What will make you’re life easier and help you become more productive in your writing?
Add them into Google Docs and MS Word…
More Posts about Writing Tips
What else do you need to know about spellcheck?
Easy Navigation with Headings in your Document
How to deal with the tracked changes?
Do you make the most out of AutoCorrect? (current post)
Best Practices for AutoFormat in Word and Docs
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