Editing an AutoText Entry

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 5, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Other issues of WordTips have focused on the AutoText feature of Word. Once you have defined your AutoText entries, you might need to edit them later. There is no special editing feature for AutoText entries in Word, however. The best way to edit an AutoText entry is to follow these general steps:

  1. Insert the AutoText entry in a document.
  2. Make your changes to the text or graphic that you inserted.
  3. Select the text or graphic that you want in the AutoText entry.
  4. Add the AutoText entry, using the same name as before.

When you perform these steps, Word asks you if you want to redefine your existing AutoText entry. When you respond positively, Word replaces the old (incorrect) entry with the new (edited) entry.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1722) 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

Tasks for Each Workbook

Excel allows you to control how it uses the Windows Taskbar. This tip explains the two ways Excel can use the Taskbar and ...

Discover More

Applying Styles and Removing Characters using Find and Replace

The Find and Replace capabilities of Word are very powerful, allowing you to accomplish more than one task at a time. ...

Discover More

Matching Formatting when Concatenating

Convert a numeric value to text and you may be surprised by how Excel displays the value. Here's a run-down on exactly ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Turning Off AutoComplete for Dates

The AutoComplete feature can be helpful. However, there are times when the suggestions Word makes aren't what you want. ...

Discover More

Sharing AutoText Entries

AutoText entries can make your writing more productive, if used effectively. Because of this, it can be advantageous for ...

Discover More

Editing AutoText Entries Directly

Editing AutoText entries, and particularly deleting them, can be cumbersome if you have a lot of changes to make. There ...

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 three minus 0?

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.