Backing Up Your AutoCorrect Entries

AutoCorrect is a very productive feature in Word that allows you to compensate for your inadequacies as a typist :>). Since it is possible to spend a great deal of time tweaking your AutoCorrect entries so they are just right, some WordTips readers have questioned how to back up the information in case they need to move it to a freshly formatted hard drive or a new install of Word.

AutoCorrect information is not only used by Word, but also by other Office applications such as Excel and PowerPoint. The result of this sharing means you need to look in several places to gather all the AutoCorrect information and back it up. AutoCorrect information that is shared between Office applications is stored in files with the ACL extension. If you want to make a copy of your shared AutoCorrect information, all you need to do is use the Windows search capability to locate files with this extension and copy them to an external storage device, such as a memory stick.

In addition to the shared AutoCorrect entries, Word also uses its own special AutoCorrect features. This is for corrections that would not make sense in other Office programs, such as formatted text and graphics. These AutoCorrect entries are stored in templates, typically the Normal template. According to some reports they can also be stored in other templates as well. If you want to make copies of this AutoCorrect information, simply make copies of any file with the DOTX or DOTM extensions.

Finally, some AutoCorrect settings are only on/off settings. For instance, you can set whether Word capitalizes the names of days or corrects two initial capitals. These AutoCorrect settings are stored in the Windows Registry. If you want to make copies of this information, there is no real way to do it without copying at least a portion of the Registry. This, of course, could have severe repercussions when you later restore the Registry information in an attempt to reclaim the AutoCorrect settings.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8481) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Backing Up Your AutoCorrect Entries.