White Paper

10 Tips to Increase Your Productivity with Microsoft Word's AutoText

By Randall Farrar

Table of Contents

Introduction

AutoText Speeds Up Your Work

Tip 1.    Recommended AutoText settings

Turn Show AutoComplete Suggestions On
Make Sure AutoText is "Looking In" the Right Spot

Tip 2.    Creating an AutoText Entry

Create your AutoText on the Fly
Where did it go?.
Caution-Know What you're Storing

Tip 3.    Inserting your AutoEntry

Tip 4.    Modifying Your AutoText

Tip 5.    Deleting an AutoText Entry

Tip 6.    Using AutoText's Little Brother – AutoComplete

Using AutoComplete

Tip 7.    Use Organizer to Manage your AutoText

Deleting Multiple AutoText Entries
Renaming an AutoText Entry

Tip 8.    Printing Your AutoText Entries

Printing AutoText

Tip 9.    Reference your AutoText Using the AutoText Field Code

Inserting an AutoText Field Code

Tip 10.  Create a AutoText Library Using a Template

Create a Global Template
Copy AutoText from Normal.dot to your AutoText Library Template

Summary

Introduction

Do you know anyone today who stills uses an external modem?  You know those funny looking devices that made weird noises that sat next to your computer?  Man, what ridiculously slow technology!  Think about it, it wasn't that long ago that the snail speed of modems was our only choice.  How frustrating!

Much like the analogy above, if you're not using AutoText or you don’t know what it is, you're imposing needless limitations on your document productivity and making some of your tasks S L O W.  You've got this incredibly powerful word processor and you're using it as an advanced typewriter.

AutoText Speeds Up Your Work

AutoText "entries" are ready-made (boilerplate) frequently used text (or graphics) that is available to you for use in any document.  AutoText is frequently used text (or graphics) that you use often in your documents. By using Microsoft Word's AutoText, your productivity will go through the roof, because you are able to produce the same amount of work product with less keystrokes and less hassle.

What AutoText Can Do For You

Microsoft Word provides a number of built-in AutoText entries, and you can create your own AutoText entries as well.

For example, if you often use the same lengthy clause in different agreements and don't want to retype it every time, you can create an AutoText "entry" for that clause.  This makes AutoText compelling.

Here are advantages of using AutoText in your Word documents:

• Less Typing
• Store frequently used text and images
• Reference AutoText using Microsoft Word's field AutoText field code
• AutoText can be document-type specific
• AutoText can be used as a library of clauses for document creation.
• Share AutoText throughout your firm using templates
• AutoText can be shared throughout the enterprise

Here are 10 Tips to Increase Your Productivity with Microsoft Word's AutoText:

Tip 1: Recommended AutoText settings

There are a few settings I recommend you turn on to get the most out of AutoText.

Turn Show AutoComplete Suggestions On

In Tip 6, you'll learn more about AutoComplete, and to use AutoComplete it you will need to turn it on (see Figure 1). When the AutoComplete is turned on, Microsoft Word will display a ScreenTip when you type the first four characters of an AutoText entry.  Upon the prompt you can enter the AutoText and continue typing.

Turning AutoComplete On

1. On the Insert menu, point to AutoText, and then click AutoText
2. Select the Show AutoComplete suggestions check box
3. Click OK
   

   Figure 1 - Turning AutoComplete on for AutoText entries

Make Sure AutoText is "Looking In" the Right Spot

This setting is one of those…"what?" kind of questions.   Trust me, making this slight change this will save you a lot of support calls to your help desk.  This setting ensures that all AutoText (in other templates) will be available when you need them.

Changing the Look in Location

1. On the Insert menu, point to AutoText, and then click AutoText
2. In the Look in list box, select All active templates
3. Click OK

   
   
   
   Figure 2 -– Turning on the "Look in" location of your AutoText

Tip 2. Creating an AutoText Entry

Create your AutoText on the Fly

As with most features of Microsoft Word there are multiple methods to do the same task.  I'm going to show you the fastest method.

1. Type your text (as the AutoText entry example) and select it (see Figure 3)
   Note: To store paragraph formatting include the paragraph mark (¶) in the selection.
2. Press Alt-[F3]
3. Accept the name Word gives or type your own name
   Hint: It’s a good idea to make the AutoText entry name (see Figure 4) at least four characters long and make the name unique by the fourth character.  If you have multiple AutoText entries with similar names, it will require more typing from you before the Screen Tip appears.
4. Click OK

Figure 3 - Selected the text for the AutoText entry

Figure 4 - Creating an AutoText entry

Where did it go?

By default your AutoText will be stored in your Normal.dot template.  Without digressing into Template hierarchy, this is the main built-in template that is available and unique to you.  You can use Normal.dot to store AutoText, Macros, Toolbars, Menus and Styles.

Note: I recommend that you ONLY use Normal dot as storage for AutoText, Macros, Toolbars, Menus and Styles and not as a template for new documents.  It is standard practice to create documents from specific templates rather than from Normal.dot.  See iCreate for easy out-of-the-box document production using templates.

Caution-Know What you're Storing

Remember you are storing AutoText in a file.I recommend that you do not use AutoText entries to store sensitive data in files that you will distribute to others, as this can be high risk metadata.

Tip 3. Inserting your AutoEntry

Using the AutoText that you created is as easy as typing the name of your AutoText entry.

1. Click in the document where you want to insert the AutoText entry
2. Type the name of your AutoText entry
3. Press [F3]

Tip 4. Modifying Your AutoText

Modifying your AutoText can be the most confusing part of AutoText management, but here is a very easy way to do it. Following the steps below will ensure that it gets modified properly.

1. Insert the AutoText entry into the document (see Tip 3)
2. Make the changes you want to the text
3. Re-select the revised AutoText entry
4. On the Insert menu, point to AutoText and click
5. Select the name from the AutoText list
6. Click the Add button (see Figure 5)
7. Click Yes to redefine your AutoText entry (see Figure 6)

   
   
   
   Figure 5 - Modifying an AutoText entry

Figure 6 - Redefine the AutoText entry

Tip 5. Deleting an AutoText Entry

Delete with caution, because after you delete an AutoText entry, the only way to get it back is to re-create it.

1. On the Insert menu, point to AutoText, and then click AutoText
2. In the Enter AutoText entries here list, click the name of the AutoText entry you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
4. Click OK
   

   Caution: You cannot undo the deletion of an AutoText entry.

   Figure 7 - Deleting an AutoText entry

Hint: If you want to delete multiple AutoText entries you will need to use Microsoft Word's Organizer (see Tip 7).

Tip 6. Using AutoText's Little Brother – AutoComplete

AutoComplete is an even faster method of inserting your AutoText.  Make sure AutoComplete suggestions are turned on (see Tip 1).

Using AutoComplete

1. Click in the document where you want to insert the AutoText entry
2. Type the first four characters of the AutoText entry's name
3. When Microsoft Word suggests the complete AutoText entry, press [ENTER] to accept the entry (see Figure 8)

Figure 8 - Using AutoComplete

AutoComplete Rules

• AutoText entry name must be four or more characters long.
• You have to type enough characters (at least the first four characters) to uniquely identify the AutoText entry name.
• AutoComplete will not work if your AutoText entry is a graphic or field code only.

Tip 7. Use Organizer to Manage your AutoText

Microsoft Word's Organizer allows you to delete and share multiple AutoText entries without the painstaking task of deleting them one at a time using the AutoText dialog box (see Figure 7).  You can also use Organizer to rename AutoText entries.

Deleting Multiple AutoText Entries

1. Select Templates and Add-Ins on the Tools menu
2. Click Organizer
3. Select AutoText tab
4. Hold down [CTRL] and click the AutoText entries you want to delete
5. click Delete (see Figure 9)
6. Click Close

   
   
   
   Figure 9 - Deleting Multiple AutoText Entries

Renaming an AutoText Entry

1. Select Templates and Add-Ins on the Tools menu
2. Click Organizer
3. Select AutoText tab.
4. Select the AutoText entry you want to rename
5. click Rename (see Figure 10)
6. Type the new name for your AutoText (see Figure 11)
7. Click OK
8. Click Close

   
   
   
   Figure 10 - Renaming an AutoText entry

Figure 11 - Rename AutoText dialog box

Tip 8. Printing Your AutoText Entries

If you want to see all the AutoText entries available to you from all loaded templates (Attached, Normal.dot and Global), then you can use the following steps to print these AutoText entries.

Printing AutoText

1. On the File menu, click Print
2. In the Print what box, select AutoText entries (see Figure 12)
3. Click OK

Figure 12 - Printing AutoText entries

Tip 9. Reference your AutoText Using the AutoText Field Code

The AUTOTEXT field code provides a nice way to reference a single AutoText entry in multiple areas of your documents.  When you use an AUTOTEXT field code, Microsoft Word will automatically update all instances of an AutoText entry that has a field code attached to it, in your documents if you later redefine the AutoText entry.

Inserting an AutoText Field Code

1. Click in the document where you want to insert the AutoText entry
2. Press Ctrl+[F9]
   Note: This inserts field code brackets.
3. Type autotext, one space and the name of your AutoText entry surrounded by quotes and press [F9] to update the field (see Figure 13)

Figure 13 - Using the AutoText field code to modify AutoText

Tip 10. Create a AutoText Library Using a Template

If you want to share a specificAutoText library with others, then you may not want to store your AutoText entries in Normal.dot.  Instead, store them in a separate template (as a library) that you can share with others.

Create a Global Template

When you create a template and designate it as a global template, any AutoText stored in this template will be available to you from any document.

1. Start off with a blank document
2. On the File menu, Select Save As
3. In the Save as type list box, choose *.dot
4. Type the name of your new Template
   Note: this will be your new AutoText Library Template
5. Change the Save in location to Microsoft Word's Startup location (see Figure 14)
   Hint: The usual location of Microsoft Word 2003 Startup is
   C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\STARTUP
6. Click Save
7. Close all documents and restart Microsoft Word
   
   Note: When Microsoft Word starts again, your new template is loaded.

Figure 14 - Saving as a Template

Copy AutoText from Normal.dot to your AutoText Library Template

At this point you can now copy all of your AutoText entries from Normal.dot into your new global template.

1. On the Tools menu, click Templates and Add-Ins
2. Click Organizer, and then click the AutoText tab
3. To copy items to the new template, click Close File to close the active document and its attached template.
4. Click Open File, and open the template you want to copy the AutoText into (see Figure 15)
5. Click the items you want to copy in either list, and then click Copy (see Figure 16)

   
   
   
   
   
   Figure 15 - Using Organizer to copy AutoText entries

Figure 16 - Results of copied AutoText from Normal.dot

Note: At this point you may no longer want the same AutoText in Normal.dot, and you can delete them (see Tip 7)

As you define more AutoText you may want to repeat these steps to ensure that all of your AutoText entries are in your AutoText library template.

Summary

AutoText is powerful…plain and simple.  When you start using Microsoft Word's AutoText in your documents you will notice a significant boost in your efficiency when using Microsoft Word.

AutoText is a great tool for frequently used text in transactional documents or, for instance, different salutations for your letters.  AutoText speeds up typing, eliminating the need to retype the same text over and over again.  Along with the AutoText feature Microsoft provides easy to use tools to help you manage your AutoText and help share your AutoText with others in the form of templates.

Download the PDF version: Microsoft Word AutoText 10 Tips

A quick way to jump start the proper use of AutoText in your firm is to use a state-of-the-art document creation, template and production tool for Microsoft Office.  iCreate provides frequently used AutoText and Global Template libraries as a natural part of your work product environment.

iCreate revolutionizes the use of templates and AutoText. iCreate and is highly customizable by in-house staff without VBA experience. The package is simple to administer and the source code for customizable components is open.