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How do I find auto text on Microsoft Word?

Anonymous
2023-06-20T17:11:17+00:00

Hey,

Does anyone know how to use auto text in Microsoft Word?

I am able to find it on the normal package but unable to find it while i'm using my chrome laptop and working of Microsoft online?

Thank you

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | Other | Windows

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  1. Jay Freedman 207.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-06-20T19:48:27+00:00

    AutoText does not exist in Word Online. That's only one of a great many differences between Word in a Windows desktop and Word Online.

    If your "chrome laptop" is a ChromeBook, you have no option to download a document to edit it in desktop Word, so you'll have to do without AutoText. A possible workaround is to create a separate document in which you build a two-column table, with a mnemonic in one cell and the expansion text in the other cell on the same row. You can then use the Find function to look up the mnemonic, copy the full text next to it, and paste into the document you're working on. It will be a lot slower than real AutoText, but probably workable.

    You can post a suggestion at https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback to request AutoText, but don't expect it to be added anytime soon.

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  1. Suzanne S Barnhill 277.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2023-12-10T02:46:04+00:00

    The command Jay told you to use was Print NormalTemplate.Path. You seem to have substituted what you thought was the path.

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  2. Jay Freedman 207.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-06-20T20:15:42+00:00

    In desktop Word, the Insert > Quick Parts menu includes AutoText (which used to be the only feature if its kind, and was expanded into Quick Parts), along with document properties and fields. The entire Quick Parts feature is absent from Word Online.

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  3. Jay Freedman 207.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-12-09T02:47:44+00:00

    There are several ways to find the location of the Normal.dotm file that Word is using.

    • Go to File > Options > Advanced. Scroll to the bottom of that page and click the File Locations button. In the File Locations dialog, click the User Templates item in the list. That entry in the Location column shows the path, but unfortunately the list box is too narrow and can't be resized. To see the full folder path, click the Modify button (but don't change anything in the resulting dialog).
    • Go to File > Options > Save and look at the path shown in the box for "Default personal templates location".

    .

    • Open the macro editor by pressing the keyboard shortcut Alt+F11 (or Alt+Fn+F11 on some laptops) and press Ctrl+G to open the Immediate window. Type into the Immediate window the command Print NormalTemplate.Path and press Enter on that line:

    .

    (This is the most reliable method because it's the only one that relies directly on the Normal template that's currently in use).

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  4. Jay Freedman 207.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-12-08T23:07:21+00:00

    If the things you're looking for really are AutoText entries (part of the Insert > Quick Parts feature, also called Building Blocks), they are stored in templates -- usually the Normal.dotm template, unless you choose a different template while creating the entries.

    Be careful to distinguish between AutoText and the similarly named AutoCorrect, which is a completely separate feature. "Formatted" AutoCorrect entries are also stored in templates, but "Plain Text" entries are stored in files with the extension .ACL, with a separate file for each proofing language.

    Since you said that you can see two (AutoText) entries, it's possible that your Normal.dotm template has been overwritten by mistake. Look in your Templates folder or any backup that you may have, to see if there's an older Normal.dotm that could contain the missing entries. If there is nothing to go back to, though, re-entering the entries is the only solution.

    Once you have all the entries, one way or another, be sure to make a backup of your Templates folder and store it in a safe location.

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