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: Store Common Addresses in Building Blocks.

Store Common Addresses in AutoText Entries

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 7, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

If you write lots of letters, you'll appreciate this one. Store your common address—the ones to whom you write letters the most—in AutoText entries. In this way, you can input just the first (or last) name of the person you need, press F3, and have the address inserted at the top of your letterhead—sure beats typing it out all the time.

To define an address as an AutoText entry, follow these steps:

Select the paragraphs containing the address.
Choose AutoText from the Insert menu, and then New from the resulting submenu. Word displays the Create AutoText dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Create AutoText dialog box.

Enter the name you want assigned to the address. For instance, use the last name of the person or the person's title. (The trick is to use something you will easily remember later.)
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 (1894) 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: Store Common Addresses in Building Blocks.

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...

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