Acronyms checklist

Although some acronyms are widely understood and preferred to the spelled-out term, others aren’t well known or are familiar only to a specific group of customers. These tips will help you use acronyms and abbreviations in a way that’s clear and meaningful.

• Always spell out Microsoft product and feature names.
• Only use acronyms that your audience is familiar with.
• For most acronyms, spell out the term first and include the acronym in parentheses. On subsequent mentions, you can use the acronym without spelling it out.
• Lowercase all words in the spelled-out form of an acronym except for proper nouns.
• Don’t spell out the acronym if it’s listed in Merriam-Webster Dictionary or if the A–Z word list says to use the acronym without spelling it out. If you’re sure your audience is familiar with an acronym, it’s OK to use it without spelling it out.
• Don’t introduce an acronym that’s used just once unless it’s needed for SEO.
• Avoid using an acronym for the first time in a title or heading, unless it’s a keyword that you need to place in the title or heading for SEO.
• Use a or an, depending on how you pronounce the acronym (for example, an ISP, a SQL database).
• Form the plural of an acronym like you would any other noun (for example, three APIs).
• Unless an acronym refers to a person or an organization, avoid using the possessive form.
• In content that will be machine translated, be careful with acronyms that form common English words, like RAM. They can be translated incorrectly.

Learn more about acronyms.
Learn more about abbreviations of units of measure.