Kickstart using Office AutoCorrect for shortcuts when typing with this collection of abbreviations and corrections
The AutoCorrect feature in Microsoft Office includes built-in corrections for a numebr of common mis-spellings as well as abbreviations for typing some characters like the copyright symbol, but you can add your own corrections and abberviations. Over many years of taking notes and transcribing interview responses, I have added hundreds of shortcuts for long words or product names with odd capitalisation or word separation that I need to get right, and thousands of corrections for typos that I make when typing fast. I copy these from PC to PC every time I switch machines (you can read more about how I do that here (https://www.zdnet.com/article/office-365-tip-using-add-to-autocorrect-to-make-you-more-productive/), and thought they might be useful to other people. "corrn" is my abbreviation of "correction".
Microsoft Office
The AutoCorrect.zip backup macro from https://wordmvp.com/FAQs/Customization/ExportAutocorrect.htm
(I have seen reports that this macro works on Macs but have so far only used the macro with Windows versions of Office myself; Mac users who would prefer to write their own macro may want to investigate this macro code (https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_word-mso_mac/how-to-back-up-autocorrect/89bdec87-a9f4-4408-bbb8-723e886fdc45?auth=1) which should work in a similar fashion).
NOTE: AutoCorrect works in all Office applications including OneNote and you can add items to AutoCorrect manually (or remove them) in any Office applicaiton using the AutoCorrect dialog. AutoCorrect entries added in one Office application will be available in other Office applications as soon as you open that application (if it was open when you made the AutoCorrect addition, you have to close it. In early and more recent versions of Word you can also add corrections to AutoCorrect by clicking on a mis-spelled word and choosing Add to AutoCorrect from the context menu (this option was removed and then returned to Word). But the only way that I know of to import AutoCorrect entries in bulk is with a Word macro, so Autocorrn should still be useful to you even if you only use Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook but not Word itself.
WARNING: Office macros are often used to spread malware. You will probably need to enable macros to use the AutoCorrect macro and you should always be cautious about downloading and running macros.
Download the Autocorrn .docx file for your proofing language.
Run the AutoCorrect macro. Choose "Backup" and save your existing AutoCorrect settings. If you have entered your own AutoCorrect options and want to keep them open the Autocorrn .docx file and copy in your own word pairs from the backup document manually, in the correct alphabetical order. Save the .docx file.
Run the AutoCorrect macro. Choose "Restore" and browse to the Autocorrn .docx file. This will replace all existing AutoCorrect options but it does include the default Microsoft AutoCorrect options. Office stores different AutoCorrect items for each proofing language installed but so far I have only been able to export from my default proofing language, UK English. The US English set of shortcuts and corrections has been edited to remove as many UK spelling variations as I could find but it does not include any default US AutoCorrect entries that are not in the UK default. Whichever Autocorrn file you pick, it will replace all existing AutoCorrect options, so US users will definitely want to make sure to take a backup first and manually copy in any missing US entries.
Word will open and the window and status bar will probably flash repeatedly as the AutoCorrect options are added. When you next create a new document, the Autocorrn shortcuts like "nw" for "network", "perf" for "performance" and "defn" for "definition" will work.
If you don't like a specific AutoCorrect, use Ctrl-Z to undo it. If you don't like having Autocorrn at all, use the macro to restore the backup you took before adding the Autocorrn items.
A lot of the abbreviations are two letters: "sw" for software, "hw" for "hardware", "nw" for "network. There are plurals and verb forms like "nws" and "nws" for "networks" and "networking". Some are ambiguous: "fw" is "framework" so the abbrevation for "firewall" is "firew". I use an abbreviation style I developed at school for words ending in -ion and similar, where I just use -n and miss out many other letters, so "defn" for "definition", "fn" for "function", "orchn" for "orchestration", "sepn" for "separation" and of course "corrn" for "correction". Again, I combine these: "compat" becomes "comaptible" but "compaty" becomes "compatibility". Other abbreviations may be slang: "mobo" for "motherboard" and "convo" for "conversation". There is a preponderance of technical and IT terms. Most of the product name abbreviations are Microsoft-specific like "pbi" for "Power BI" but "k8" for "Kubernetes" saves a lot of time!
At this point, I don't have a process for accepting individual new entries for Autocorrn: if anyone is interesting in getting involved to help me do that in the long term, please get in touch. I'm looking for someone with a US English install of Office and no custom AutoCorrect options to run the AutoCorrect macro and take a backup so I can add those into the US English Autocorrn file so users don't have to do that manually. I also do not have a good process for updating the US English Autocorrn file so it is not currently being udpdated as I add new autocorrections to the UK English file, which is now about 12,000 entiries. I've only created AutoCorrect entries in UK and US English: if you have a set of AutoCorrect entries in another proofing language, I'd be happy to add them here or link to them.
TBD - I am still adding new abbreviations and corrections to AutoCorrect and will probably export a new set once a year (for the last three years I've exported a backup every January).
- Mary Branscombe MaryPCBUK
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE.md file for details
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Hat tip to Dave Rado who wrote the AutoCorrect macro I've used for many years, and to @PurpleBooth whose helpful README template (https://gist.githubusercontent.com/PurpleBooth/109311bb0361f32d87a2/raw/8254b53ab8dcb18afc64287aaddd9e5b6059f880/README-Template.md) I used.
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It is my hope that one day AutoCorrect options will roam with you from PC to PC automatically the way custom dictionaries do. If anyone in the Office team finds Autocorrn useful, feel free to push for that!