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: Turning Off Smart Quotes for Specific Styles.

Turning Off Smart Quotes for Specific Styles

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 6, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Janet wonders if there is a way to disable smart quotes for particular styles. She works on a lot of programming documentation, with code examples, where smart quotes are invalid syntax. She would like for Word to notice that she is typing or pasting in "code example" paragraph style or "literal" character style, and not change the quote marks.

There is no way to do this in Word. The smart quotes feature is part of the AutoFormat capabilities of Word, and as such is either on or off for the entire document. Further, turning smart quotes on or off at any given point only affects what you type from that point forward, and it doesn't affect anything you paste into the document.

The best solution for the situation where you are creating programming documentation and you don't want smart quotes to appear in paragraphs formatted with a certain style is to create a macro. The macro would step through the paragraphs in your document and, if the paragraph was the designated style, change any smart quotes to regular quotes. Such a macro could be run at any time to make any necessary changes to the smart quotes.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (3375) 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: Turning Off Smart Quotes for Specific Styles.

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

Searching for Breaks

Word allows you to insert different types of breaks in your text that help control how your document is paginated. If you ...

Discover More

Spacing Before and After Lists

When formatting a document that uses lists, you may want to adjust the space that appears just before and just after the ...

Discover More

Determining the Current Directory

When creating macros, it is often necessary to know which directory is the default. Here's how you can find out by using ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Sign-in Sheets

Printed sign-in sheets are a staple at many meetings and seminars. Word can create them lickety-split just by using a few ...

Discover More

Reversed Bolding

If you paste information from one document into another, you may be surprised at the results. If your text changes from ...

Discover More

Adding Fonts To the Context Menu

Context menus appear when you right-click on different items in Word. These menus can be edited to add items, such as ...

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 8 - 7?

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.