AutoText Entries Don't Stick

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 27, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Linda reports that when she puts a word into AutoText it works just fine, but only while she's in that document. When she closes and re-opens the document, all her added AutoText words are gone and she has to re-enter them.

There are several possible reasons why this would occur. AutoText entries are saved in templates, not in documents, so the cause must somehow be related to what Word is doing with your templates. It may be that the template associated with this particular document is read-only, and therefore cannot be updated with the AutoText information. (Theoretically, however, you should get an error message when Word tries to save the AutoText info to the read-only template.)

If you are on a network, it may be that the template is not available when you reopen the document. You can check in Word to see what template is associated with the document once you reopen it, and verify that it is the correct template that should be associated with it. If the template in which you previously saved your AutoText is not available the next time you open the document, Word will attach the Normal.dot template by default. In any case, you should check with your network administrator to see if there is something funny going on with your templates as they are stored on the network.

Finally, it could be that the problem is related to a known bug associated with several Adobe products interacting with Office. You can find more info about the bug at this Knowledge Base page:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906899

Basically, the bug is caused by a problem in an add-on installed by several different versions of Adobe Acrobat. It affects Word in that some changes (including AutoText changes) are not saved properly. The Knowledge Base article lists several different ways you can cure the problem. (The best one is to update your Acrobat to a newer version. The update should be free from Adobe.)

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (515) 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

Controlling the Display of Chart Axes in Microsoft Graph

When you create a chart in Microsoft Graph, you might now want to see one or both of the axes included by default. Here's ...

Discover More

Quick and Dirty Paragraph Count

Need to know how many paragraphs are in a document? You can use Word's Find and Replace feature to get a count quickly.

Discover More

Two Page Numbers per Physical Page

Want to save paper when printing your document? Just print two pages per sheet of paper and you'll get rid of only half ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (menu)

Sharing AutoText Entries in a Network

Creating AutoText entries can be a great way to improve your productivity with Word. At some point you may want to share ...

Discover More

Using AutoText

AutoText is a timesaving feature that allows you to assign a word, phrase, paragraph, or graphic to a mnemonic name. Type ...

Discover More

System Won't Save AutoText

In some instances, Word may actually refuse to save any of your AutoText entries in the Normal.dot template. There are a ...

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 9 - 8?

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.