Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. 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: Backing Up Your AutoCorrect Entries.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 25, 2020)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, and 2013
AutoCorrect is a very productive feature in Microsoft Office products that allows you to compensate for your inadequacies as a typist (grin). Since it is possible to spend a great deal of time tweaking your AutoCorrect entries so they are just right, you may wonder how to back up the information in case they need to move it to a freshly formatted hard drive or a new install of Excel.
The answer is quite simple: Excel's AutoCorrect information is stored in files with the ACL extension. If you want to make a copy of your AutoCorrect information, all you need to do is use the Windows searching capabilities to locate files with this extension and copy them to your backup destination (such as a memory stick).
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (11889) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, and 2013. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Backing Up Your AutoCorrect Entries.
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2020-08-25 04:49:16
Kiwerry
On a W10 machine with Office 365 and Office 2010 installed I found that I had to modify Dave's 2016 comment slightly. In Windows Explorer
%AppData%\Microsoft\Office
took me to the directory containing the acl files.
2016-12-13 11:26:41
Dave
Jennifer Thomas's suggestion frcm 2013 worked great for me. In case comments expire after some time:
Use the %AppData% environment variable to find the .acl files. It automatically expands to the correct full path. Just type this in the address bar of a Windows Explorer window and hit enter: %AppData%MicrosoftOffice
2016-12-13 08:57:50
Jeaux
This didn't work for me either. I've done all kinds of searches and updated my auto correct, but can't find this file.
2013-10-14 08:56:57
Jennifer Thomas
Search didn't find this for me, so I hope this helps someone else:
The path in our environment (Windows 7 64bit running Office 2010 32bit) is
%appdata%MicrosoftOffice ...
that "%appdata% is a variable for the user's roaming path, BTW (You can paste the path into a Windows Explorer Window address bar to get there).
The file names that updated when I added an autocorrect entry are
MSO0127.acl
MSO1033.acl
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. 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:
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