Autotext problem

Question

HI,

I have been using Microsoft Word for many years.  I produce reports, and I have been using Autotext to insert blocks of text (some with data entry fields) into the documents.   Recently, I lost my normal.dot file (corrupted?) and lost all of those entries.

I can recreate them, but now Word won’t let me add any new autotext entries to the dropdown menu.  I am trying to do it like I always had - select a block of text, do Insert->Autotext->New… and name the entry.  But it doesn’t show up in the dropdown menu.

If I then go to the organizer (Tools-Templates and Add-Ins->Organizer), it does show the new Autotext entries in the normal.dot file, but I don’t see any way of being able to add them to the dropdown Insert menu so that I can use them in a document.

Thanks!  I’m using Microsoft Word for Mac, Version 16.9.1.

Answer 1

First, an apology... I returned to Word 2008 & 2011 where I found that new AutoText entries are added into an AutoText sub-menu by the name of Normal. Apparently, that may have been carried over into earlier builds of Word 2016. I hadn't noticed because I really haven't done much with AutoText recently. That being the case it gives me reason to challenge sources at MSFT who repeatedly asserted that 'menus in Office 2016 cannot be modified'... That doesn't seem to be the actual case. My recollection, however, was for reorganizing those user-defined entries which cannot be done in Word 2016.

All of that notwithstanding, it is confirmed that the entries aren't getting added to the menu in v16.9 of Word 2016. Whether that behavior will be returned is uncertain.

However, you can assign kybd shortcuts directly to your individual AutoText entries in Word by going into Tools> Customize Keyboard. [There is no reason to use the OS X method.] Select Building Blocks from the Categories list, then choose the entry from the Commands list & assign the shortcut.

As for inserting an entry by using its name, several requirements must be met. First, the name must be at least 4 characters. It also must be unique. When inserting, the Tip will not appear until 4 characters are typed and a unique character is included. For example, if there are items named entry1 & entry2, just typing entr will not trigger the Tip... Nor will typing the entire name. A kybd shortcut would have to be assigned to the InsertAutoText command - Mac Word does not have a built-in shortcut for it.

OTOH, if those entries were named 1entry & 2entry, typing 1ent or 2ent should trigger the Tip for those respective entries.

Answer 2

Hi Mar10029,

We have received the video, have you tried type the first few characters? Please help confirm whether that works for your scenario.

Meanwhile, you may follow the steps below as a workaround for your purpose.

1.Create an personal template

2.Go to Tools>Templates and Add-ins>Click attach>Select personal template and please also click +> select personal template

3.Click Organizer> Copy the autotext entry to the personal template

4.Click Insert >Autotext> Autotext> select personal template in look in.

And then you can find the new autotext entries in the dropdown menu.

In addition, Based on the video and test on all versions of Office for Mac 2016, they are the same with your scenario.

Regards

Moja

Answer 3

Hi mar10029,

You may try the following steps in this thread to see the outcome:

1.       Close Word.

2.       In the Finder, hold down the Alt key while clicking on the Go menu and choosing Library. Your user Library folder opens.

3.       In the Library folder, open Group Containers>UBF8T346G9.Office>User Content>Templates.

4.       Rename Normal.dotm to Normal.dotm.bak.

5.       Restart Word and check whether you can create new Autotext entries. If yes, you're done, close the Windows. If not, close Word, discard any new Normal.dotm it created and rename Normal.dotm.bak back to Normal.dotm.

If the problems persist, you may try close it and reopen Word and see if it helps.

Regards

Moja

Yes, I had tried that, it doesn't work.  I have also tried restarting work, restarting the laptop, etc..  

Thanks anyway...

Answer 4

Yes Microsoft has changed something regarding AutoText and have made it much more unfriendly for the moment. I'm hoping it's temporary and I'd provide them with feedback using the Smiley control on the ribbon.

In the meantime, I suggest you add the "AutoCorrect..." function to your QAT (Quick Action Toolbar). You'll find it on the "Not On the Ribbon" group of commands. There won't be a button, instead just a circle, but at least you'll be able to somewhat quickly get to the AutoText stored list.

I hope this helps

Answer 5

Hi mar10029,

You may try the following steps in this thread to see the outcome:

1.       Close Word.

2.       In the Finder, hold down the Alt key while clicking on the Go menu and choosing Library. Your user Library folder opens.

3.       In the Library folder, open Group Containers>UBF8T346G9.Office>User Content>Templates.

4.       Rename Normal.dotm to Normal.dotm.bak.

5.       Restart Word and check whether you can create new Autotext entries. If yes, you're done, close the Windows. If not, close Word, discard any new Normal.dotm it created and rename Normal.dotm.bak back to Normal.dotm.

If the problems persist, you may try close it and reopen Word and see if it helps.

Regards

Moja