Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Turning Off Word's Second Guessing with Quote Marks.

Turning Off Word's Second Guessing with Quote Marks

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 19, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365


Andrew often needs, in the course of editing and writing, to put a digit or two in quotation marks in order to quote or cite it. He works in the UK where the preferred system of quoting is for single quote marks, with doubles for quotes within quotes. (The US prefers the opposite.) If Andrew types a single quote mark, then, say, the number 92, and type a closing quote mark, that opening quote mark immediately flips and becomes an initial apostrophe. This happens because Word thinks Andrew is typing a calendar year without the 19 (as in 1992). He is looking for a way to not have this "flip" happen.

Assuming that you have the correct language set for your document (UK English as opposed to US English), the flipping is occurring because AutoFormat is making a wrong assumption about what you are doing. The solution to such guessing is actually easier than you think: just use Ctrl+Z. When Word changes the opening quote mark, immediately press Ctrl+Z and the AutoFormat change is undone.

If you prefer not to have to press Ctrl+Z in those instances where AutoFormat guesses wrong, then you should consider turning off the Smart Quotes feature in AutoFormat and instead using the keyboard shortcuts for inserting just the quotes you want. You can discover these shortcuts by displaying the Insert tab of the ribbon, clicking the Symbol tool in the Symbols group, and choosing More Symbols. Near the bottom you will see the shortcut keys for all the quote marks. You can also find the shortcuts at this Word MVP page:

http://wordfaqs.ssbarnhill.com/InsertSpecChars.htm

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1056) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Turning Off Word's Second Guessing with Quote Marks.

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

Advanced Filtering

Many people know how to use AutoFilter, but there are times when you need some more filtering muscle. Here's how you can ...

Discover More

Controlling the Automatic Copying of Formulas

When you add a new row of data to the bottom of the data of a worksheet, Excel may (or may not) copy formulas downward to ...

Discover More

Getting a List of Matching Cells

The Find and Replace capabilities of Excel allow you to easily locate all the cells in a worksheet that contain specific ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Creating Special, Compound Characters

If you have a need for special characters (particularly in technical documents), Word provides a couple of ways you can ...

Discover More

Moving Text without Affecting the Clipboard

Want a quick and easy way to move text (or other document elements) from one place to another in your document? Check out ...

Discover More

Using Manual Line Breaks with Justified Paragraphs

If you use justified paragraphs, you know that if you press Shift+Enter, it can lead to some odd spacing between words ...

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 six minus 5?

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 ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu 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.