Formatting a Company Name

David would like his company name, when typed into a document, to always appear in bold and a color. He wonders if there is an easy way to do that.

There are actually two easy ways to handle this need. The first is to define a Building Block. Follow these steps:

1. In a document, type and format the company name so it appears as you desire.
2. Select the company name. (Make sure you don't select anything past the end of the name, such as spaces, tabs, or end-of-paragraph marks.)
3. Press Alt+F3. Word displays the Create New Building Block dialog box. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Create New Building Block dialog box.

4. Replace the contents of the Name field with a short mnemonic you want to use for your company name, such as the company's initials.
5. Use the Gallery drop-down list to choose AutoText.
6. Click on OK.

To later use the Building Block entry, all you need to do is type the mnemonic you specified in step 4 and then press the F3 key.

The second technique is to create an AutoCorrect entry for your company name. Just follow these steps:

1. In a document, type and format the company name so it appears as you desire.
2. Select the company name. (Make sure you don't select anything past the end of the name, such as spaces, tabs, or end-of-paragraph marks.)
3. Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 and later versions, display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
4. Click Proofing at the left side of the screen.
5. Click AutoCorrect Options. Word displays the AutoCorrect dialog box with the selected company name (step 2) already entered in the With box. (See Figure 2.)



Figure 2. The AutoCorrect dialog box.

6. Make sure the Formatted Text radio button is selected.
7. In the Replace box type the initials of your company.
8. Click the Add button.
9. Click Close to close the dialog box.

Now, anytime you type the initials of your company (what you entered in step 7) and press either the Spacebar or type some type of punctuation, Word replaces those initials with the formatted company name.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (10383) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021.