Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Automatically Using Smart Quotes.

Automatically Using Smart Quotes

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 8, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


"Smart quotes" is the Word phrase for what typographers call opening quotes and closing quotes. If you look at the quote marks in any printed book, you will notice that the quote marks at the beginning of a quote look different from those at the end; these are smart quotes, according to Word.

The opening quote is produced by holding down the Alt key and typing 0147 on the keypad. The closing quote is produced in the same fashion, only you type 0148 on the keypad. Since this can get rather tedious, Word has included an AutoFormat option that changes normal quotes with smart quotes. This option is set by default, but there may be times when you want to check the setting or turn off the option. You can find the option by following these steps:

  1. Select AutoCorrect or AutoCorrect Options (depending on your version of Word) from the Tools menu. Word displays the AutoCorrect dialog box.
  2. Click on the AutoFormat As You Type tab. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The AutoFormat As You Type tab of the AutoCorrect dialog box.

  4. Make sure the Straight Quotes with Smart Quotes option is selected.
  5. Click on OK.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (272) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Automatically Using Smart Quotes.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Redoing an Object Browse

The Object Browser is a great way to search for and navigate through all sorts of objects in your document. Once you use ...

Discover More

Changing the Footnote Continuation Separator

When you add a really long footnote to a document, it could be that the entire footnote might not fit on the page where ...

Discover More

Repeating Cell Contents

Want to repeat cell contents over and over again within a single cell? Excel provides two ways you can duplicate the content.

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Intelligent Title Case

A common editorial need is to change the capitalization used on different words in a selection of text. Word provides a ...

Discover More

Animating Your Text

Want to make your text shimmer and dance on the screen? Depending on your version of Word you can easily add snazzy ...

Discover More

Discovering the RGB Value of a Custom Text Color

Word allows you to easily change the color of the text in your document. If you get a document from someone else, you may ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is five more than 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.