Microsoft KB Archive/291473

= How to turn off AutoFormat features in Word 2002 and in Word 2007 =

Article ID: 291473

Article Last Modified on 3/19/2007

-

APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Office Word 2007
 * Microsoft Word 2002 Standard Edition

-



This article was previously published under Q291473





For a Microsoft Word 2000 version of this article, see 212339.

Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure that you back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows registry



SUMMARY
This step-by-step article describes how to turn off AutoFormat features in Microsoft Word 2002 and in Microsoft Office Word 2007.

The AutoFormat features in Word work behind the scenes to produce an attractive, easy-to-read document while you concentrate on the content. Word analyzes each paragraph to see how it is used in the document (for example, as a heading or as an item in a numbered list) and then applies an appropriate style for that item.

For example, Word can automatically format Internet, network, and e-mail addresses as hyperlinks, apply bold or underline character formatting to text that you enclose in asterisks or underscores, or replace hyphens with dashes.



MORE INFORMATION
In Word 2002, you can automatically format a document either as you type it or all at the same time. In Word 2007, you can automatically format a document as you type it. The AutoFormat feature to automatically format a document all at the same time is not available in Word 2007.

AutoFormat works in the following ways:
 * Word automatically formats items such as headings, bulleted and numbered lists, borders, numbers, and symbols as you type your document. You can control which automatic changes Word makes. In Word 2002, you can turn AutoFormat off completely.
 * In Word 2002, you can automatically format selected document text or the whole unformatted document, such as an e-mail message, when you click AutoFormat on the Format menu. You can review, accept, or reject each change.
 * By default, the AutoFormat command is not available on the Word 2007 Ribbon. If you want to manually format selected document text or the whole unformatted document in Word 2007, you can use the AutoFormat command.

You can add the AutoFormat command to the Quick Access Toolbar. To do this, follow these steps:
 * Click the Microsoft Office Buttonoffice2007filebutton.jpg], and then click Word Options.
 * Click Customize.
 * In the Word Options dialog box, in the Choose commands from list, click All Commands.
 * In the list of commands in the selected category, click AutoFormat, click Add, and then click OK.
 * Word 2002 automatically formats headings and lists in your plain text WordMail messages when you open them. You can easily distinguish the current message from the previous messages in the e-mail stream.

By default, AutoFormat features are &quot;on&quot; the first time that you start Word. You can turn off the options that you do not want.

Turn off &quot;AutoFormat as you type&quot; options
To turn off automatic format options that apply as you type your document, follow these steps, as appropriate for the version of Word that you are running.

Word 2002

 * 1) Start Word.
 * 2) On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect Options.
 * 3) Click the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
 * 4) Under Replace as you type, Apply as you type, and Automatically as you type, select or clear the check boxes for the options that you want to enable or disable. After you do this, you can format these items manually.
 * 5) Click OK.

Word 2007

 * 1) Start Word.
 * 2) Click the Microsoft Office Buttonoffice2007filebutton.jpg], and then click Word Options.
 * 3) Click Proofing, and then click AutoCorrect Options.
 * 4) On the AutoCorrect tab, click to select or to clear the check boxes for the options that you want to enable or disable. After you do this, you can format these items manually.
 * 5) Click OK two times.

Word 2002
To turn off automatic format options that apply when you click AutoFormat on the Format menu, follow these steps:
 * 1) Start Word.
 * 2) On the Format menu, click AutoFormat.
 * 3) Click Options, and then click the AutoFormat tab.
 * 4) Under Apply, Replace, Preserve, and Always AutoFormat, select or clear the check boxes for the options that you want to enable or disable.
 * 5) Click OK.

Word 2007
To turn off automatic format options that apply when you use the AutoFormat command, follow these steps:
 * 1) Start Word.
 * 2) Click the Microsoft Office Buttonoffice2007filebutton.jpg], and then click Word Options.
 * 3) Click Proofing, and then click AutoCorrect Options.
 * 4) On the AutoFormat As You Type tab, click to select or to clear the check boxes for the options that you want to enable or disable. After you do this, you can format these items manually.
 * 5) Click OK two times.

When you click OK in the AutoFormat dialog box to automatically format your existing Word document, Word uses only the features that you selected to format your document.

Where the AutoFormat options are saved
When you change the AutoFormat and AutoFormat As You Type options, the changes are saved to the Windows registry in the Word Data key.

If the changes that you make to the AutoFormat and AutoFormat As You Type options are not being saved, part of the Windows registry may be damaged. To correct this problem, follow these steps to reset the Data key.

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall the operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.  Close Word and all other programs. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK. Locate and then click the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\ \Word\Data

Notes  For Word 2002,  refers to the 10.0 subkey. For Word 2007,  refers to the 12.0 subkey.</ul> </li> On the Edit menu, click Delete.</li> Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the deletion.</li> Close Registry Editor.

The next time that you start Word, the Word Data key is automatically re-created in the Windows registry.</li></ol>

<div class="references_section">