Putting AutoText to work

Type a name for your entry in the Enter AutoText Entries Here text box. Make sure the Show AutoComplete Suggestions check box is selected (assuming you want to take advantage of that feature) and click Add.

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Instead of accessing the AutoText tab to create an entry, you can simply select the item and press [Alt][F3] to bring up the Create AutoText dialog box. Type an entry name and click OK. (The main disadvantage here is that you can't specify a particular template in which to save the item.)

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To enter an AutoText item into a document, position the insertion point marker where you want the entry to go and start typing the item's name. With AutoComplete activated, you'll see a screen tip like this one as soon as Word can tell what you're typing. Pressing [Enter] will insert the item. If you don't use AutoComplete, simply type the entire item name and press [F3]. (An apparent bug in Word 2003 prevents AutoComplete from working with AutoText entries that are graphics; you'll have to use [F3] to insert them.)

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If you need to modify an AutoText item, enter it into a document and make your changes. Then, select it, press [Alt][F3], type the name of the item, and click OK. Word will prompt you to verify that you want to replace the original item with this one. Click OK and Word will save the modified version as your AutoText entry.

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To delete an AutoText item you no longer need, choose Insert | AutoText | AutoText. Select the item you want to get rid of and click Delete. Word won't prompt you to make sure you're serious, so you'll want to be careful here.

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Suppose you have a collection of AutoText entries stored in a particular template and you want to make them available to all documents, regardless of the template they're based on. To copy the items into the Normal template (which will make them globally available), start by choosing Tools | Templates And Add-ins, clicking the Organizer button, and clicking the AutoText tab.

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Make sure your template is selected in one of the AutoText Available In fields. (If it isn't, click the Close File button and it will change to Open File. You can then navigate to your template and select it.) Now, select the AutoText entries you want to copy from your template. (Holding down [Ctrl] will let you choose noncontiguous items.) Click Copy, and Word will move them into the Normal template--or any other template you have displayed on the other side of the dialog box.

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