Macro-Inserted AutoText Doesn't Set Style

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 25, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Glenn is inserting an AutoText entry into his document using a macro. When he inserts the entry manually (not from the macro), Word sets the style properly for the entry using the style (Heading 3) stored with the AutoText entry. But when he uses the macro to insert the AutoText entry, the inserted entry shifts to another style (Body Text).

The first thing to check is that there is really a style stored with the AutoText entry. In this case, the style is stored with the entry if the paragraph mark at the end of the text was selected when the entry was defined. (It probably is this way in Glenn's case since the style is set properly when manually inserting the AutoText, but it is still a good thing to check.)

Once you are sure that the style has been saved with the document, you need to take a look at your macro and how the AutoText entry is being inserted. If you have an AutoText entry named "MyText," the normal way to insert it is to use a macro line such as the following:

NormalTemplate.AutoTextEntries("MyText").Insert Where:=Selection.Range

If you want the formatting of the AutoText entry to be used, however, you need to make sure that the optional RichText parameter is used:

NormalTemplate.AutoTextEntries("MyText").Insert _
  Where:=Selection.Range, RichText:=True

Your AutoText should now be inserted exactly as you want it to be inserted.

Note:

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WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (314) 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...

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