About automatic text corrections

The AutoCorrect feature fixes capitalization and spelling or typing errors that occur as you type. The AutoCorrect options are on by default, and you can turn them off. If there are certain words that you don't want corrected, you can create exceptions to some of the capitalization rules.

Also, the AutoCorrect Options button , which becomes available near your text right after a correction has occurred, gives you more control over automatic corrections by letting you undo the correction or alter your AutoCorrect settings.

Automatic text correction applies to all types of text except for WordArt.

Capitalization corrections

The AutoCorrect feature offers several capitalization options. These are:

• Correct two initial capitals typed in a row, so the second one becomes lowercased.
• Capitalize the first letter of sentences, first letter of table cells, and names of days.
• Correct the reverse capitalization that results if you start a sentence with the CAPS LOCK key on by accident.

Corrections to typos and misspellings

The AutoCorrect feature also contains a list of entries— typos and misspelled words— which, if you type them, will be replaced with the correct spelling. For example, if you make a mistake and type "cna," it's automatically changed to "can." Also, some characters, such as the trademark characters "(r)" and "(tm)," are replaced by the symbols ® and ™. You can add to, delete, or modify any AutoCorrect entries.

Text in other languages

The default AutoCorrect entries in Microsoft PowerPoint are in the language type that you are using for text. So, for example, if your default language for text is English, the entries are in English. If you switch your default language to French, the AutoCorrect misspellings and corrections will change to French.

Exceptions

You may want to create exceptions to the AutoCorrect capitalization rules. For example, AutoCorrect interprets a period as the end of a sentence, so if you enter an abbreviation with a period at the end, it will capitalize the first letter after the abbreviation. To prevent this, you can specify abbreviations that you want ignored for this capitalization rule.

For instance, if you add the abbreviation "info." as an exception, AutoCorrect will never capitalize a word that follows it. PowerPoint contains a default list of exceptions that you can add to.

The AutoCorrect Options button

The AutoCorrect Options button first appears as a small, blue box when you rest the mouse pointer near text that was automatically corrected, and it changes to a button icon when you point to it. When you click the button, it displays a list of options, which include:

• Undo a capitalization change (undoes the last instance only) or Change back to the original spelling of text (changes the last instance only)
• Redo the automatic correction
• Stop making this capitalization or text correction (changes the global setting or text entry in the AutoCorrect dialog box, preventing this correction from happening again)
• Control AutoCorrect Options (displays the AutoCorrect dialog box, where you can adjust settings as you wish)

The AutoCorrect Options button is available for every instance of an automatic correction. For text in placeholders, the button is available both on the slide and the Outline tab.

If you don't want this button to appear after a correction, you can turn it off in the AutoCorrect dialog box. You will still get the automatic corrections you select in the dialog box.