Turning Off AutoComplete for Dates

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 24, 2018)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Liz asked if there was a way to turn off AutoComplete for dates, but leave the rest of AutoComplete available for use with her many AutoText entries.

Unfortunately, there is no way to do this—it is an all-or-nothing proposition with AutoComplete. If you turn it off (Insert | AutoText | AutoText | Show AutoComplete Suggestions), you won't see the "hints" for AutoText. However, just because you turn AutoComplete off doesn't mean you cannot access your AutoText. If you know the starting few characters of an AutoText entry, all you need to do is type the first few letters and then press F3. Word springs into action and expands the AutoText entry the same as if you had used AutoComplete to expand it.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (229) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Determining the Hour of the Day

Need to figure out the hour represented by a particular time value? It's easy to do in a macro; just use the Hour ...

Discover More

Setting Vertical Alignment

Excel allows you to adjust not only the horizontal alignment of values in a cell, but also the vertical alignment. This ...

Discover More

Finding Missing Fonts

When you open documents that were created a long time ago on a system far, far away (sounds almost epic, doesn't it?), ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Restoring or Recreating AutoText Entries

When you first install Word, it includes a number of pre-defined AutoText entries. If you delete any of these entries ...

Discover More

Table Borders not Stored in AutoText

Many people create tables and store those tables in AutoText entries for later use. If the formatting of those tables ...

Discover More

Easily Backing Up AutoText Entries

Many people use AutoText to enhance their use of Word. If you've invested significant time in customizing AutoText to ...

Discover More

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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is two minus 1?

2016-02-28 01:34:04

spam

"Unfortunately, there is no way to do this"

Any more tips?!

2014-06-07 01:11:48

Iris Wood

I have it turned on and cant turn it off even if I revert to default. How can I turn it offf please?

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.