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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Writing a Macro from Scratch

Creating macros can help extend what you can do in Word. If you work with macros, you know that creating macros from ...

Discover More

Formatting the Space after an Endnote Number

With lots of endnotes in a document, you may be puzzled by the space left between the endnote numbers and the text that ...

Discover More

Moving the House Number to Its Own Cell

Excel is great at manipulating data, but sometimes it is difficult to figure out the best way to do the manipulation. ...

Discover More

Discover the Power of Microsoft Office This beginner-friendly guide reveals the expert tips and strategies you need to skyrocket your productivity and use Office 365 like a pro. Mastering software like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is essential to be more efficient and advance your career. Simple lessons guide you through every step, providing the knowledge you need to get started. Check out Microsoft Office 365 For Beginners 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

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

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

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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is six minus 3?

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.