I create a lot of auto correct options with special formatting and every time there is an update it wipes them out. How do I fix this?

Question

I use a lot of auto correct special formatted words with things like TM or R for trademark names and registered names. I use special characters such as the 'e with the dash over the e as seen in Spanish words. It seems that every time there is an update of any kind it erases all of them and I keep having to redo them. Same thing happens with my specially created paragraphs that i use shortcut phrases to insert into a document. They keep disappearing and I have to keep redoing them. This is very tiresome and bothersome and annoying. What is the fix?

Answer 1

The specific AutoCorrect entries you mention are already built into Word, and they are saved in .acl files, not Normal.dotm, so you should not lose them even if Normal.dotm is deleted or overwritten. The .acl files are language-specific, so you may have more than one. Only formatted AutoCorrect entries are saved in Normal.dotm. That said, saving a copy of your customized Normal template is always a good idea.

AutoText entries are saved in Normal.dotm by default but can be saved in any template. If you are having trouble with keeping them, it might be a good idea to create a new template just for the AutoText entries. Save that template in the Word Startup folder (thus making it a global template), and they will be available to any document.

Answer 2

AutoCorrect and AutoText are completely separate kinds of objects, stored in different places.

Regarding AutoCorrect entries:

• Only entries that are identified in the AutoCorrect dialog as "Formatted text" are stored in the Normal.dotm template. Entries that are "Plain text" are stored in files named MSOxxxx.acl, where xxxx is a 4-digit number identifying the proofing language (e.g., for US English the file is MSO1033.acl). This is because plain text entries can be used by any of the Office programs, while formatted entries are restricted to Word.
• What Word considers to be "formatted text" is not necessarily what you think of as "formatted". For example, the trademark, copyright, and registered characters and all letters with accent marks are ordinary Unicode characters, so they're considered "plain text".
• I offer a free utility, AutoCorrect2007, which you can download from https://jay-freedman.info/. It will back up all your entries, including plain text, formatted text, and Math AutoCorrect, into a table in a Word document that you can save (and edit to add or remove entries). The same utility will restore all your entries whenever necessary.

Regarding AutoText:

• AutoText entries are part of the Building Blocks group of features. They can be stored in any template file. Although they're created by default in the Normal.dotm template, that makes them prone to loss during updates or any sort of mishap that affects that constantly used template.
• On the Insert ribbon, click the Quick Parts button and choose Building Blocks Organizer near the bottom of the menu. The Organizer dialog shows you the name, gallery, category, and storage template for each entry. The Edit Properties button at the bottom of the list lets you change any of those properties; changing from the current template to any other open template will move the entry.
• If you put your generally useful AutoText entries into a template file that you then store in the folder %appdata%\Microsoft\Word\Startup, that template will be loaded into memory every time you start Word, and the entries will always be available in any document. Entries that are useful only for a specific type of document should be stored in the template(s) on which those documents are based. In either case, they'll be much less likely to disappear than if they're in Normal.dotm, and easier to restore from backup if they are damaged or deleted.