Why doesn't my auto-complete work?

There's got to be somebody who can. I've got a brand new computer, with brand new software that's not doing what it's supposed to do.

Nope. Opening and closing the organizer didn't work, and neither did safe mode.

Thanks anyway, I'll figure out something. Whom do I escalate this to?

This is a user-to-user support forum, not Microsoft. Sorry. While I can "escalate" this thread, I do not believe that will give you direct assistance.

How do I give feedback on Microsoft Office?

AutoComplete does work for all Building Blocks including AutoText in Word versions beginning with Word 2013.

The screenshots above are from Word 2021. The one for the date will not appear until a day is typed unless you capitalize the month name yourself (not using AutoCorrect).

I believe you are talking about Word 2003 which was Word 11, I believe.

If you know the name of an AutoText and start typing if it does not pop up, the F3 key should trigger it s well. *(*Fn+F3 on many computers)

Automated Boilerplate Using Microsoft Word

However, AutoComplete for Building Blocks and AutoText will not show up immediately after you start Word.

In my experience, the first use of a Building Block/AutoText loads them into memory. Calling up the Building Blocks Organizer under Quick Parts would also constitute a first use. This may be what you are experiencing.

History: MS did away with AutoText and AutoComplete in Word 2007, restored AutoText and partially restored AutoComplete for Building Blocks stored in the Normal template in Word 2010, and fully restored it in later versions.

AutoText, Building Blocks and AutoComplete for them are not functional for templates that are stored in SharePoint.

My tests are done on Word for Windows 2021 and 365 run on Windows 11 and Windows 10, respectively.

No go. The F3 thing works, but that's not good enough. I want to see that box pop up (The one shown in your screenshots), when I type the first few characters of an Auto-Text entry, and that's still not happening. I always got it in Word '03... Why not Word '21? I double-checked that the 'Show auto-complete suggestions' box was checked in File>Options>Advanced. And my dates still aren't auto-completing. Any other suggestions?

No one here can tell you the "why" or "why not" of anything.

Did you try displaying (and then closing) the Building Blocks Organizer?

What happens with Word in safe mode?

Open Office apps in safe mode on a Windows PC - Microsoft Office

This is a diagnostic and will not show any custom building blocks but should show the date AC.

"first few characters"

Word is looking for four unique characters.

See Troubleshooting AutoText.

I was well aware of that from the start, thank you. You tried to help, and I appreciate your time and effort. Thank you. Sorry for the inconvenience.

There's got to be somebody who can. I've got a brand new computer, with brand new software that's not doing what it's supposed to do.

Nope. Opening and closing the organizer didn't work, and neither did safe mode.

Thanks anyway, I'll figure out something. Whom do I escalate this to?