Moving AutoCorrect entries between systems



Q Your recent item Mastering Word's AutoCorrect feature (November 97, p164) interested me greatly because I use AutoCorrect extensively to speed up typing and editing documents which include repeated use of lengthy technical terms and phrases. I have created a list of 130 of these terms, which AutoCorrect changes into the desired text as I type specially-nominated keys. A chart reminds me what the keystrokes are, but it is easy to remember them if they are set up as simple mnemonics. I find that this improves typing speed and accuracy enormously.
But how do I transfer my customised AutoCorrect files from one PC to another (ie one copy of Word to another) and, of course, save them and access them in case of a PC crash requiring a reinstall of Office 97? (This has happened!) I cannot find where Word keeps this file, let alone place a copy in the Windows My Documents folder for backup and safe-keeping.
- Clive Reynoldson

A Office 97's AutoCorrect entries are stored in the Windows folder in files with an .acl extension. Depending on your Windows configuration, the AutoCorrect file will be named user.acl or username.acl, where "username" is your Windows logon name, eg "cliver".
You can move or copy this file to any folder on your system, and to other systems if necessary. But if you decide to move it, you will need to edit the corresponding entry in the Windows registry, so that Office applications will know where to find it.
Start the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) and drill down to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0\Common\AutoCorrect. Double-click Path in the right-hand pane and edit this value so that it points to the correct location.





If you move your AutoCorrect file to a new location, remember to edit the Windows registry
- Neville Clarkson

Category: Word processing
Issue: Feb 1998
Pages: 158

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