What is autotext in word. How to set up word completion in Microsoft Word. Creating and using an AutoText element

As a rule, replacement Microsoft Word are looking for if we are talking only about free use text editor. But even as a paid product, Word is still the most popular document creation program. The secret to the popularity of the brainchild of the software giant is the functionality and user-friendliness of the interface. Perhaps the only thing that the popular text editor lacks is a customizable word completion function - a function of predicting the words entered by the user, like in search engines.

However, autocompletion of not only words, but even entire phrases can be configured and used within the AutoText function. Also, the word auto-completion function, which is not only pre-configured, but also using ready-made dictionaries, can be implemented in Word using third party program Comfort Typing Pro. Both of these options will be discussed below.

So, how do you set up word completion in Word?

1. AutoText inside Microsoft Word

Automatic word completion is a very convenient thing when typing the same type of text. Words and phrases added to the AutoText collection can appear instantly in the document. Simply type a few initial characters and, when a special field appears, press Enter to insert the entire word or phrase. To do this, however, you first need to do a little work to add frequently used words and phrases to the AutoText collection.

Access to the AutoText launch button in Word is not implemented very well for frequent use. In the “Insert” tab, you need to select the “Text” button, then “Express Blocks”, and then “AutoText”.

Since you first need to create a word auto-completion database yourself, periodically saving the necessary words and phrases to the AutoText collection, a button for this function will obviously not be superfluous on the quick access panel. Click the "File" menu.

Let's go to "Parameters".

Click the tab on the left “Quick Access Toolbar”. In the “Select commands from:” column, indicate “Insert Tab”. At the very top of the list we will see the “Autotext” button. It needs to be added to the Quick Access Toolbar field using the “Add” button in the middle. To save the settings, click “Ok” below.

An AutoText button will appear on the Quick Access Toolbar. In the future, to add words and phrases to the AutoText collection, you must first select them in the document, then click the AutoText button and use the save option.

The Save to AutoText Collection form in Word allows you to assign words and phrases to different categories. In principle, the entire vocabulary base can be saved in the default category “General”. For the convenience of working with large stocks of words, it is better to classify them into different thematic categories. In the category drop-down list there is a “Create category” item.

When you select this item, the new category name field will open. After specifying a name, the category will appear in the form of saving words to the AutoText collection. Next, select the desired category and click “Ok” at the bottom of the form.

Words and phrases saved in the AutoText collection will be available in the preview table when you click the AutoText button on the Quick Access toolbar. When you select a preview, its contents—words or phrases—will be automatically inserted into the document.

But it is much more convenient to work with the contents of the AutoText collection using the auto-completion type. As mentioned, words and phrases from the collection will be automatically added after pressing the Enter key, when an autotext field appears next to the characters being entered.

You can remove unused words and phrases from the collection by clicking the AutoText button and calling up the preview context menu. The Organize and Delete command will open a window for organizing your AutoText collection.

The AutoText organizing window is called the Building Blocks Organizer. It stores blocks with other Microsoft Word template fragments. Sorting blocks in this window by category allows you to quickly find blocks with the necessary words and phrases from the AutoText collection. Blocks will be deleted using the “Delete” button at the bottom of the window.

Undoubtedly, with the AutoText function you can increase the productivity of creating documents of the same type. At the same time, AutoText is not a full-fledged substitute for the auto-completion function. Own artificial intelligence autotext Word, alas, it does not. The word auto-completion function, which is absent in Word, but available in the arsenal of another well-known text editor - LibreOffice Writer– provides for automatic replenishment of vocabulary in the process of working with documents. By activating the word collection option in the autocorrect settings, the LibreOffice Writer user will receive suggestions for autoinput from a self-generating database of individual words previously present in the text open documents.

A real auto-completion function in Word, as in any other text editor Windows can be implemented using the Comfort Typing Pro program.

2. Auto-completion of words using the Comfort Typing Pro program

The Comfort Typing Pro program provides a small sign in the character input area with options for completing the typed word. Word options change instantly as you enter further characters. The program has its own dictionaries in several languages, including Russian. You can add your own frequently used words to these dictionaries.

Comfort Typing Pro is a paid program (630 rubles), but you can download it completely free from the official website and also test it for free for a whole month after installation.

The word auto-completion feature in Comfort Typing Pro itself is called word auto-suggestion. But this is not the only functionality; the program also provides Windows with a customizable keyboard language switcher and text templates.

After installation and launch, the program will minimize to the system tray. Call up the program menu on the Comfort Typing Pro icon in the system tray and first of all check that the “Allow auto-word suggestion” option is active. Next, open “Options”.

On the left, select the “Auto-suggest” tab. Here, too, the word auto-completion feature can be turned on and off if not needed. If there is no need to change the function settings, simply assign a convenient key for inserting words below.

In the “Dictionaries” tab, you need to download and install Russian-language dictionaries. For some reason they are not supplied with the program.

If necessary, you can install dictionaries for other supported languages.

After downloading, the dictionaries will be available automatically. At any time, you can go to the “Dictionaries” parameters tab, select one or another dictionary from the list and, by clicking the “Edit” button, add your own words. The dictionary will open in a regular notepad. In order for the word auto-completion function to automatically replenish its vocabulary while working with various documents, the “Remember user words” option must be active in the “Dictionaries” tab.

After making any changes, click “Save” at the bottom.

We can test the function: open Microsoft document Word, we begin to enter text and, if the necessary words are available in the table of completion options, insert them with the assigned key.

Moving between word variants within the table is carried out using the navigation keys - up arrow and down arrow.

Have a great day!