Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Unwanted Data Changes.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 6, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
Have you ever been typing data into a worksheet, only to look back and find that Excel had made changes to words or letters you entered. For instance, you may have a client named Hempstead-Gorton Enterprises, and you enter their initials into a cell as HGE. When you press the space bar or move to another cell, Excel changes the initials to HE.
This is one of those cases where Excel is second-guessing you and is doing a poor job of it. What is happening is that AutoCorrect is kicking into play, and sees HGE as a common typing error. Thinking that you meant to type "he," AutoCorrect makes the change for you.
If such unwanted changes are giving you the fits, you can follow these steps to correct the problem:
Figure 1. The AutoCorrect tab of the AutoCorrect dialog box.
Now you can type away without Excel incorrectly changing your acronym.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3334) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Unwanted Data Changes.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here:
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