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: Making Sure Word Doesn't Capitalize Anything Automatically.

Making Sure Word Doesn't Capitalize Anything Automatically

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 4, 2016)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Jim wants to know how he can prevent Word from capitalizing proper nouns (proper names) such as David, Shirley, Robert and so on. He has turned off the feature that capitalizes the first letter of sentences, but Word still capitalizes proper nouns for him. Jim doesn't want Word to capitalize anything at all.

There are a couple of things to try. First, make sure you turn off all the "usual suspects" regarding capitalization. You've already turned off the control that capitalizes the first letter of sentences, but there are others as well. Follow these steps:

Choose AutoCorrect Options from the Tools menu. Word displays the AutoCorrect dialog box.
Make sure the AutoCorrect tab is displayed. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The AutoCorrect tab of the AutoCorrect dialog box.

Clear the Correct TWo INitial Capitals check box.
Clear the Capitalize First Letter of Sentences check box.
Clear the Capitalize Names of Days check box.
Look through the list of AutoCorrect entries and modify (or delete) any entries that result in capitalization of a word. (Alternatively, you can just turn off the AutoCorrect feature, if desired.)
Clear the Automatically Use Suggestions from the Spelling Checker check box.
Click on OK.

It is the last item (step 7) that is probably the culprit in Jim's case. If proper nouns are being capitalized, it is probably because they have been added to the spelling dictionary and Word is correcting the capitalization on them automatically.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8996) 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: Making Sure Word Doesn't Capitalize Anything Automatically.

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

Changing the Default Font

Don't like the font that Word uses for a default in your new documents? You can pick a different font, but the way you ...

Discover More

Moving Headings to the Next Page

Word provides a few ways you can adjust pagination to accommodate where you want your headings to appear. If you want ...

Discover More

Returning Values to the Left of a VLOOKUP

VLOOKUP is a great function to use in accessing data based on a lookup value. Problem is, you can't easily return ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Replacing All AutoCorrect Entries

Word's AutoCorrect feature can be a great tool to improve your writing. Depending on the type of writing you do, you may ...

Discover More

Automatically Capitalizing Day Names

Type the name of any of the seven days into your document, and Word automatically makes sure it is capitalized. This is ...

Discover More

Shortcut for AutoCorrect Dialog Box

There is no built-in keyboard shortcut that will display the AutoCorrect dialog box. This doesn't mean that there aren't ...

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 more than 1?

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.