Why does Excel change the data I enter?

[Going Postal]

OK, I am getting really tired of MS Excel changing the data I enter. I do not
want the "help".

Currently, I am trying to enter "NWO" in a cell. But, it always changes to
"NOW".
I didn't notice that MS Excel had "helped" me until I was proofing my
spreadsheet.
I tried inserting an apostrophe before it, it didn't work. ("'NWO" ==> "NOW")
I tried to put a space before it, it didn't work. (" NWO" ==> " NOW")

I've known that this "help" also occurs when I try to enter the following
data:
- "32:23" (gets changed to "1/1/1900 8:23:00 AM" )
- "4/5" (gets changed to "4/5/2009" )
- "12-2005" (gets changed to "12/1/2005" )
These, I figured out that if I put an apostrophe before the data, the data
is entered into the cell as I want it. But, I'm getting tired of doing that.

What I want Excel to do is: TO ACCEPT THE DATA I ENTER & NOT CHANGE IT!

I don't care if the programmers in Redmond, WA think I made a mistake.

Thank you, (and sorry for the caps, but after wasting several hours trying
to find a solution in the Help...well let's not go there right now)

 

[Mike H]

Hi,

I guess I'm correct in saying the autocorrect function in Excel has
irritated you but all is not lost, you can disble the corrections you don't
want.

Tools|Auto correct options

Type NWO in the Replace box and when the correction appears in the With box
delete it.

Despite your obvious annoyance this is a useful feature and it's also global
so any change you make also affects MS Word.

Mike

 

[RonaldoOneNil]

Tools - Auto Correct Options
Scroll down the list at the bottom and delete nwo

 

[Going Postal]

Thanks for the almost immediate response.
I forgot to mention that I'm using Excel 2007, so the Tools | Auto Correct
didn't apply. However, I eventually found out how to get to it:

Review tab
Spelling button (the one with ABC and a check mark)
Options button (hidden down in lower left corner)
Proofing (on left side column)
Auto Correct Options button (to the right)
then uncheck "Replace text as you type"

Naturally, I made the mistake of assuming that the information on
microsoft.com support site (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/937422) was
correct, when it stated that:

"Note Microsoft Office Access, Microsoft Office Excel, and Microsoft
Office Project, and Microsoft Outlook 2000 do not have an automatic spelling
checking feature or an automatic grammar checking feature."

Thanks again for your help.