Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. 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: Adding an AutoText Entry.

Creating a Building Block

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 12, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

To get the most out of Word's Building Blocks you will want to customize it to help with words and phrases that you use most. You can add Building Blocks in this manner:

Select the text and/or graphics for which you want to create a Building Block. You will need to select the paragraph marker as well if you want to store paragraph formatting with the text.
Press Alt+F3. Word displays the Create New Building Block dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Create New Building Block dialog box.

Replace the suggested name with the desired name for your new entry.
Click on the OK button.

Those four steps are the simplest way to create your Building Block. If you take a look at the Create New Building Block dialog box again, you'll notice that there are quite a few items you can change besides the name for the Building Block. For instance, you may want to change which gallery the Building Block is stored in and the category you want to use to classify it.

After working with Building Blocks for a while, you many need to change some of your entries. Fortunately, Word makes it really easy to change your Building Blocks. Follow the steps outlined for adding entries, and when you click on OK, you will be asked if you want to redefine the Building Block entry. Click on Yes and you will be able to use the new entry.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8223) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Adding an AutoText Entry.

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...

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