Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Unwanted Data Changes.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 12, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365
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 (6158) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Unwanted Data Changes.
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2024-04-12 06:46:53
LJ
This is wonderful! Now it won't keep changing "HSA" to "HAS" on me. Thank you!
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