AutoText Entries for Multiple Users

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 3, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365


Bonnie has developed a large number of AutoText entries that are helpful for the work done in her company. She wonders if there is a way to centralize these entries for use by multiple people in her company. She's thinking of something that could not only be used by her group, but also managed so entries can be changed and added by multiple people. If this can be done without overwriting an individual's existing AutoText entries, Bonnie would find that ideal.

Yes, this can be done, and it is relatively easy, provided you remember that AutoText entries are stored in templates. On a single system, the AutoText entries are stored in the Normal.dotm template. Since Bonnie doesn't want to overwrite the AutoText entries on individual systems, it wouldn't do to overwrite the Normal template on each person's system.

So, the answer must involve the automatic loading of another template, in addition to the Normal template, when Word is started. If the template containing all of the company's AutoText entries is stored in a template called CompanyTemplate.dotm, then it can be automatically loaded by storing it in the Startup folder on each system. Anything in the Startup folder is automatically loaded, by Word, when it starts.

Of course, if you have dozens of users, putting CompanyTemplate.dotm in each person's Startup folder becomes an problematic task. And, whenever you update the template, you need to make sure that every person's system is updated with that updated template. It is much cleaner to store CompanyTemplate.dotm on a network drive to which everyone has access, and then put in each Startup folder a link to that template.

Let's take a look at each piece of this scenario and how it can be implemented. In doing so, I'm going to assume a few things. First, I'm going to assume that you already have your desired AutoText entries stored in the CompanyTemplate.dotm file and that you have stored it on your network at a location to which each person has full read/write access:

\\server\share\

The name of shared server location isn't important, I'll assume it is the above name for this explanation. The CompanyTemplate.dotm file itself should be read-only but it is the folder in which it is stored to which all users should have read/write access.

With the CompanyTemplate.dotm file in place, you need to figure out the path to the Startup folder on each user's system. (Theoretically they should all be the same, but they may not be.) On a user's system, follow these steps:

  1. Start Word
  2. Display the Word Options dialog box. (Display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
  3. At the left side of the dialog box, click Trust Center.
  4. Click the Trust Center Settings button. Word displays the Trust Center.
  5. At the left side of the Trust Center, click Trusted Locations. (See Figure 1.)
  6. Figure 1. The Trusted Locations area of the Trust Center.

  7. In the list of locations, locate and click once on the location that contains the word "Startup."
  8. Note the full path for the location, located just below the list of locations. (Jot it down or copy it to somewhere like a temporary text document so you can refer to it later.) If, in your version of Word, you cannot see the full path in the dialog box, click the Modify button and you can see it in the resulting dialog box.
  9. Repeatedly click the Cancel button until you've closed all the open dialog boxes.
  10. Get out of Word.

The next step is to create the link in the Startup folder that is necessary to make this all work. This is done, within Windows, by opening a command window with administrator privileges. Pressing Win+X to display a menu of options. From the options, choose Terminal (Administrator). Windows opens the requisite window. At the command prompt, use the mklink command, in this manner:

mklink <localfile> <networkfile>

The <localfile> should be the desired name for the link on the local system, within quote marks, and <networkfile> should be the network path of the CompanyTemplate.dotm file, also within quote marks. For instance, let's say that you jotted down (step 7, above) the following path for your Startup folder:

C:\Users\allen\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word\Startup\

In this case, the mklink command you would use would be this:

mklink "C:\Users\allen\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word\Startup\OrgTemplate.dotm" "\\server\share\CompanyTemplate.dotm"

Once you press Enter, the link is established; Windows places a link in the Startup folder that points to the CompanyTemplate.dotm file on the network. It doesn't copy the template file; it creates a link file that fetches the template from the network as if it were in the local folder. This means that if the user now starts Word, the CompanyTemplate.dotm template is automatically loaded from the network location, and the user will have access to anything within that template.

This process of setting up the symbolic link will need to be done on every user's system. Once done, though, the CompanyTemplate.dotm file is fairly easy to maintain. Users won't be able to change anything in it because you made the file read-only. However, if you (as maintainer of the template) have read/write access to the file, then you can make changes whenever you want, and they are automatically available to all users because everyone is accessing the single version of the template that is on the network.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (7631) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365.

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

Moving Groups of Data Labels at One Time

Having problems working with data labels in your charts? That's not unusual; here's an idea of an add-in that could help ...

Discover More

Formatting Line Numbers

Legal documents often use automatic line numbering for their documents. If you want to format those line numbers, you can ...

Discover More

Changing Styles

Styles are a great boon to making your documents look better and making them easier to update. You can change the ...

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 (ribbon)

Restoring AutoText Entries via Macro

AutoText has been a powerful feature in Word for decades. If you've spent countless hours developing your AutoText ...

Discover More

Printing AutoText Entries

If you want to print a list of the AutoText entries on your system, you can do so quickly by making one change on the ...

Discover More

Saving AutoText Entries with Each Document

AutoText can be a great way to add consistent, common text to a document. Unfortunately, you cannot save AutoText entries ...

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 nine more than 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.