Any time-saving tricks Work in word processors is welcome and Google Docs is recent added a new one, automatically converts three dashes to dashes and two hyphens to dashes for you.
What you may not realize is that you can create your own text shortcuts, replacements, and autocorrects like this very easily — not only in Google Docs, but also in other word processors. like Microsoft Word and Apple Pages. It can save you considerable time and effort once you know how.
We’ll cover those three here, but the same feature is available in many alternatives. If you dig into the settings, you’ll find something similar.
Google Docs
Google Docs makes it simple to add autocorrect.
Google via David NieldIf you have your own words or phrases that you often misspelled and want to automatically correct in Google Docs, you can create your own words or phrases. These edits will be applied as you type, so you can also use a combination of letters as a shortcut for something longer, like a built-in text expander. With a document open on the web, select Tools, Interest, And after that Replacement.
Please make sure that Automatic replacement selected, then scroll down to see the autocorrections that Google Docs handles by default — you can uncheck any that you don’t want applied. You can also remove replacements entirely using x icons to the right of the list.
To create your own autocorrect or replace, for a dash or anything else, use To replace and With the boxes. As soon as both fields are filled in, your replacement will be added to the top of the list, where it can be edited or deleted as required. When you’re happy with how the listing looks, click YES.
Google Docs is now smart enough to replace a lot of common typos without you having to do anything: You’ll see the replacement appear with the correct spelling and underline to mark the change. If Google Docs makes one of these errors for any reason, click the word and select Undo.
Microsoft Word
Edit autocorrect options in Microsoft Word.
Microsoft via David NieldIn Microsoft Word, you can configure autocorrect on Windows by going to File, Option, and Proofreading. Here you will find a bunch of different options including spell and grammar check, support for custom dictionaries, readability statistics for your documents, etc.
