Stopping Smart Tags from Being Saved

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 23, 2016)
This tip applies to Word 2002 and 2003

Smart Tags were developed by Microsoft as a way for companies or individuals to mark certain words so they lead to additional information. For instance, a person's name or a company name or some other proper noun could become a Smart Tag. If so, it appears on-screen with a wavy purple underline that indicates the word (or phrase) can be clicked for more information. In some ways, a Smart Tag is similar to a hyperlink.

You can turn off Smart Tags, so they are not saved with a document, by following these steps:

Choose Options from the Tools menu. Word displays the Options dialog box.
Display the Save tab. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Save tab of the Options dialog box.

Clear the Embed Smart Tags check box.
Click OK.

Now you can save your document as you normally would. The setting is stored with the document, and Smart Tags won't be saved with this particular document unless you go back and explicitly change the setting.

If you want the saving of Smart Tags turned off for all your documents, you need to open the templates you use to create documents, and then perform the steps just listed. For instance, load the Normal.dot template and perform the four steps. Save the template, and then the setting will be turned off for any future documents you create that are based on Normal.dot. Existing documents, even though they may be based on Normal.dot, will need to be individually changed. If you prefer, you can create a small macro that will turn the option off for you:

Sub OptSmartTagsOff()
    ActiveDocument.EmbedSmartTags = False
End Sub

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (7832) applies to Microsoft Word 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

Inserting a Sound File in Your Worksheet

Some worksheets are better understood through the spoken word or with musical accompaniment. Sound files can be easily ...

Discover More

Adding Footnotes to Endnotes

Word does footnotes. Word does endnotes. Word doesn't do footnotes within endnotes. Here's a discussion as to why and ...

Discover More

Adding Caption Labels

When using the captioning capabilities of Word, you aren't limited to the three default caption labels provided in 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)

Small Red Dots under Addresses

Does your document have all sorts of different colored underlines on it? Tracking down what most of them are can be easy, ...

Discover More

Finding Changes by Editor

Creating a Macro to find changes made by different editors.

Discover More

Curving Text Around the Edge of a CD

Word works great with text, but not so great if you need to do some specialized things with the text, such as printing it ...

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 6 - 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.