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: Turning Off Capital Corrections.

Turning Off Capital Corrections

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 18, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Word tries its level best to be a good guesser at what you are trying to do. For instance, as you are typing along, if you type a word where the first two letters are uppercase, and the next letter is lowercase, Word will figure you just have slow fingers and didn't release the Shift key in time to make the second letter lowercase. So, it dutifully changes the second letter to lowercase to help you out. For instance, the word PLace becomes Place.

There are some situations where this behavior can be bothersome, however. For instance, you may have a company or product name in which the first two letters are always capitalized, such as INtec or MYphone. In these cases, Word also tries to do its magic and change the capitalization, which can cause no end to proofreading passes and related problems.

One solution to this problem is to turn off the correction that Word does to your words. (At least for this particular capitalization issue.) Here's how you do it:

  1. Choose AutoCorrect from the Tools menu. (In Word 2003 choose AutoCorrect Options from the Tools menu.) Word displays the AutoCorrect dialog box.
  2. Make sure the AutoCorrect tab is displayed. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The AutoCorrect tab of the AutoCorrect dialog box.

  4. Clear the Correct TWo INitial Capitals check box.
  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 (481) 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: Turning Off Capital Corrections.

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

Finding Unique Rows Based on Two Columns

Using the UNIQUE function you can derive unique values from a range of cells. By expanding the range of cells accessed by ...

Discover More

Updating Automatic Links

Normally, Word updates links within your document when you first open the document. If you don't want Word to do this, ...

Discover More

Calculating the Last Day in a Week Number

Given a particular week number for a year, you may want to figure out the date of the last day in that week. There is no ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!

More WordTips (menu)

How Word Handles Abbreviations

Abbreviations appear all over the place in our society. If you want to understand how Word recognizes them (which it has ...

Discover More

Superscripted Registered Trademark Symbol

Word, by default, includes an AutoCorrect entry that converts (r) to a registered trademark symbol. The problem is, the ...

Discover More

Easily Inserting a Section Mark

Section marks are used regularly in the writings of some industries, such as in legal documents. If you need a way to ...

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 8 + 7?

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.