Turning Off AutoComplete for Dates

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


2

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Setting the AutoRecover Directory

Excel, by default, periodically writes information to AutoRecover files that can help protect your data in case Excel is ...

Discover More

Inserting a Cross-Reference to the First Style on a Page

A common way to set up a header is to have it refer to the first occurrence of a heading on the page. (Think how the ...

Discover More

Removing Author Information

Word automatically stores lots of author-related information within a document. Because this data is stored in several ...

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 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

AutoText Unavailable in Headers and Footers

When you are creating headers and footers for your document, you might want to use some of your AutoText entries. What if ...

Discover More

AutoText Behaving Erratically

The AutoText feature of Word is a great tool for adding common text or phrases with a minimum of fuss. What do you do if ...

Discover More

Backing Up Your AutoText Entries

Got a bunch of AutoText entries defined for your system? You'll undoubtedly want to back them up at some time. Here's how ...

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 4 + 7?

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.

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.