Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007 and 2010. 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: Automatic AutoCorrect Exceptions for Beginning Sentences.
Ken asked about a problem he was having with AutoCorrect not capitalizing words at the beginning of sentences as he expected. When typing a document, he would sometimes discover that AutoCorrect was not capitalizing the first word of some sentences, despite being configured to do so.
The reason for this is because AutoCorrect watches (to a limited extent) how you type and tries to adjust itself for what it perceives as your needs. If you are typing along and Word makes an AutoCorrect correction, and you immediately backspace and type over the correction, Word figures that you don't want it to make those corrections any more in the future. To ensure this, it adds the last word of the sentence, with its ending punctuation, to the AutoCorrect exceptions list.
Depending on the way you type, this can cause some problems. For instance, consider this scenario:
When you type the space after this new first word, AutoCorrect does two things. First, it doesn't correct the capitalization of the first letter of the new first word—it leaves it lowercase. Second, it automatically adds the last word of the previous sentence, with its terminating punctuation mark, to the AutoCorrect exception list. This means that any time you end a sentence with that word in the future, AutoCorrect will not automatically adjust the capitalization of the first word in the following sentence.
If you don't want Word to behave this way (second-guessing why you are backspacing), then you should follow these steps:
Figure 1. The AutoCorrect tab of the AutoCorrect dialog box.
Figure 2. The AutoCorrect Exceptions dialog box.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6005) applies to Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Automatic AutoCorrect Exceptions for Beginning Sentences.
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2014-07-08 06:53:53
Laura Jones
Word keeps adding words to my exceptions list even though I have unchecked that box. It is so annoying I get so angry at it, but of course it isn't a person, but who on Earth can it be adding to this list when I have unchecked the box!?
2013-02-13 04:26:37
Stephen
Hi Allen
My problem is a little different. Word is autocorrecting certain words by changing the capital at the start of the sentence to lower caps.
I have just typed "Define" and Word changed it to "define"
Which is quite annoying because I use "Define" a lot.
can you give me a tip on this?
Stephen
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.
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