Autocomplete Autotext

[Brenda from Michigan]

User has Word 2002, SP3
She selects text and clicks on Insert | Autotext | New. She types in a
shortcut of four or more characters and clicks OK. For this document
autocomplete will show her full autotext entry when she types the 4-character
shortcut and will then replace the characters with the intended text.

However, when she goes to a new document, autocomplete does not appear when
she types the 4-characters for the autotext entry she just created above.
BUT, if she clicks on Insert | Autotext | Autotext, her entry is there and
can replace the shortcut.

I have Word 2002, SP3 but mine works differently. If I enter the text in
the first paragraph here, it autocompletes on that document or any other
document immediately. I don't even have to close and reopen Word.

I have confirmed the unique 4-character shortcuts, there are no add-ins
running but Snag-It and unchecking it does not change the behavior. There is
nothing in the Startup folder. I don't see anything that might be a
duplicate autotext entry. She is not double-clicking the Word icon on the
Quick Launch bar. Any other ideas?

I am checking to see if she has Adobe 7.0 Professional, but even if she did
I would think an entry she creates during a Word session should still be
available to all documents for that particular session, and that is not the
case here.

 

[garfield-n-odie [MVP]]

In Word 2002, if you type an Autotext entry as the first word of the
first document (but not second or subsequent document) after starting
Word, Word won't recognize what you typed as an Autotext entry. I can't
tell you why this happens, but I have run into it. In the first
document after starting Word, if you type at least a two-letter word
(two or more letters followed by a space, even if you immediately delete
that word after typing it) before typing the Autotext entry, the
Autotext entry will work the first time.

 

[Brenda from Michigan]

Thank you for this tip. I'll have the user give it a try.