Controlling AutoComplete for Month Names

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 17, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021

Bill has always been able to type the beginning of a month (like "Dece") and press Enter for completion. He recently had a hardware problem fixed by HP and they changed his system board, resetting the PC in the process. Bill installed Windows 11 and Word and the AutoComplete for month names no longer works. He wonders how he can turn this back on.

This is handled by a single configuration setting within Word. By default this setting should be turned on in Word, but it appears it may not be turned on in Bill's case. Follow these steps to make the change:

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.)
At the left side of the dialog box, click Advanced. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Editing area of the Word Options dialog box.

In the Editing Options area of the dialog box, make sure the Show AutoComplete Suggestions check box is selected. (This check box is near the bottom of the Editing Options area.)
Click on OK.

Word should now allow you to AutoComplete month names as you type.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11911) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021.

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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