If you use Microsoft Word a lot, you probably have some pieces of content that you use over and over across multiple documents: contact information, disclaimers, professional background, introductions to speeches, etc. Retyping it over and over, or copying it and pasting it from another document, is both a nuisance and increases the likelihood of making errors. The best way to add these snippets into new documents is with Word’s AutoText feature.
In this post, I’ll show you how to create and save your reusable content and provide some tips on various ways to add it to your document.
Note: This tutorial is based on Microsoft Word 2010. Word has had an AutoText feature since the 2003 version. For the other versions that have it, the various buttons and commands may be in different locations but the general steps will still apply.
Create and Save the Content You Want to Reuse
Type the text you want to save into a blank document and select it (or select it from an existing document).
You can include formatting, hyperlinks, and symbols in the snippet.
On the Insert tab, click QuickParts > Save Selection to QuickParts Gallery.
The Create New Building Block dialog will appear.
Give your snippet a Name and select AutoText from the Gallery dropdown. Click OK.
You have now saved your content to reuse in other documents (or other locations in the same document).
Insert the AutoText Content into Your Document
There are various methods for inserting your saved snippet. The first is to do it from the same button.
Go to the place in the document where you want to insert the snippet.
Go to Insert > QuickParts > AutoText.
The menu will expand to show you all your saved snippets. There may be existing ones for your name and initials if Word captured that information when you installed it.
Click the AutoText you want to insert.
Voila! Your content is inserted exactly as you saved it.
Alternate Methods to Insert the Content
1. Start typing the initial characters of the NAME you gave the AutoText (not the actual saved text), then hit the F3 key.
AutoText will automatically insert the text. If you start typing and don’t hit the F3 key, a popup will appear that shows the name of the AutoText and you can hit Enter to insert it.
2. Add an AutoText button to your Quick Access Toolbar.
This is the small toolbar at the very top left of your Word window. If you’ve never customized it, it will just have the Save, Undo, and Redo commands showing. To add the AutoText command:
- Click the down arrow beside the toolbar and click More Commands to open a new dialog.
- From the Choose Commands dropdown, click Insert Tab.
- From the list of commands, click AutoText, then click the Add button between the two columns.
- Click OK to close the dialog. You can now see the AutoText button in the Quick Access Toolbar. Click it to select your AutoText.
3. Create a keyboard shortcut for your AutoText.
- Click the down arrow beside the toolbar and click More Commands to open a new dialog.
- Click Customize Ribbon from the left-hand menu.
- Click the Keyboard Shortcuts: Customize button below the left-hand list of commands.
- Scroll down the Categories list and select Building Blocks.
- Scross down the Building Blocks list and select the name of your snippet.
- Click inside the Press New Shortcut Key field and press the key combination for the shortcut you want. If that shortcut is already being used for another command (and it probably is) you can press another combination or keep the one you have if you don’t use the existing command.
- Once you’re happy with your selection, click the Assign button at the bottom left of the dialog.
Click the Close button, then click OK to close the Customize dialog.
Now when you click that shortcut, your snippet will be inserted into the document.
Additional Tips
- When you go to QuickParts > AutoText, if you right-click in the box, a menu will come up that gives you more options for where to insert the AutoText and to edit and delete it.
- Microsoft Outlook also has an AutoText capability. When you create a new email or are replying to or forwarding one, you’ll see the button on the Insert tab. Unfortunately, the AutoTexts you create in Word don’t show up in Outlook or vice versa.
