USING AUTOCORRECT IN MS WORD

This is an extremely useful tip for anyone, but can serve as an especially useful tool for dyslexic people.

What is AutoCorrect?

You can use the AutoCorrect feature to automatically detect and correct typos, misspelled words, grammatical errors, and incorrect capitalization. For example, if you type ‘teh’ plus a space, then AutoCorrect replaces what you have typed with ‘the’. You can also use AutoCorrect to quickly insert text, graphics, or symbols. For example, you might want to type ‘s’ instead of having to insert the symbol ±’ every time, or to type ‘dda’ which you might have set up to insert ‘Disability Discrimination Act’.  You can use it to correct errors as you type; you can add to, or edit, existing AutoCorrect entries or even stop it from making automatic corrections that you don’t want.

Here’s how to use it:

1. Click on ‘Tools’, then ‘AutoCorrect’, then the ‘AutoCorrect’ tab.

2. Ticking the first check box means that if you type ‘ASide’ for example, this will be automatically corrected to ‘Aside’  However, if you have exceptions that you do not want AutoCorrect to alter, for example, ‘SOS’,  then click the ‘exceptions’ box, then ‘other corrections’, and add ‘SOS’ to the list.

3. The second, third and fourth boxes are all to do with the misuse, accidental, (as Word sees it), or otherwise, of capital letters. Again, use the ‘exceptions’ box as outlined in 2. above.

The fifth box, ‘replace text as you type’, is a very important feature. You should scroll through the list to see what typos are automatically corrected and add to the list as you se fit.

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