Creating Custom AutoText Categories

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 6, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


When you choose AutoText from the Insert menu, you may have noticed that Word divides the various available AutoText entries into submenus. If you understand what these submenus represent, you can understand how to create your own submenus.

When you create an AutoText entry in Word, it examines the paragraph style used by the text in the AutoText Selection. If it is a paragraph style that matches the name of one of the submenu items in the AutoText menu, then Word files the entry in that submenu. If it is not, then Word starts a new submenu item with that same name as the paragraph style and then files the new AutoText entry under that submenu. In other words, the submenu names are the same as the styles used in the various AutoText entries.

For example, let's say you are going to create new AutoText entries, and you will name them "dog," "cat," and "bird." Further, let's assume you have a style named "Pet." When the three AutoText entries are created, if each of them is formatted with the Pet style, then they will appear in an AuotText submenu called Pet.

For more information on AutoText categories, you may find this article at the Word MVP site helpful:

http://wordmvp.com/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/AutoTextList.htm

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1625) 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

Exactly Positioning Text

If you need to control exactly where text will appear on the page or relative to other text, you need to know about the ...

Discover More

Hiding Formatting Changes in Track Changes

Word can easily (and handily) keep track of changes you make in your document. You may not want all your changes tracked, ...

Discover More

Locking the Size of Pictures in Comments

Excel allows you to place pictures inside of comments. If you do this, you may have experienced a situation where the ...

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)

Editing an AutoText Entry

Once you've created an AutoText entry, you may believe that it is "set in stone" and cannot be changed. Not so! You can ...

Discover More

Organizing AutoText Entries

Want to get more organized with your AutoText entries? Here's how you can take advantage of the organizational features ...

Discover More

Saving AutoText Entries with Each Document

AutoText can be a great way to add consistent, common text to a document. Unfortunately, you cannot save AutoText entries ...

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 six minus 5?

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.