Microsoft Word is all singing, all dancing. Truly a great product which has made the lives of professional writers and students vastly more productive.
Most of us however are not professional writers. We only use Word to type an occasional missive or and article now and then. We don’t need or use 90% of the bells and whistles. Unfortunately, some of these built in bells and whistles are designed to impose themselves and often like to blow loudly in our ears whether we asked for it or not.
Research shows there are three common pet hate ‘features’ that most average users would rather turn off if only they knew how. This is a cheat sheet for such users.
A. How do I stop Word from helping me type?
Word checks spelling and grammar as you type. When these features are on, spelling and grammar that Word does not recognize are underlined sternly with wavy red and green lines.
To turn off Word’s various automatic checking features:
1. From the Tools menu, pick ‘AutoCorrect’ (or AutoCorrect Options). Then click on the ‘AutoCorrect’ tab.
2. Uncheck the boxes for the AutoCorrect items that you...