how to switch off some automatic features?

  • Thread starter Thread starter pb
  • Start date Start date
P

pb

the following things in word drive me bonkers. does anyone
know how to switch these automatic features off:

1) typing a date on a new line
word adds its own back to front american date at the end
of my english one eg
12 June 2004 ... that's what I want
12 June 2004-07-25 ... this is what word adds

2)
when doing cut and pastes in lists, word often displays a
little cut and paste icon over the text so i can't read
the text around my cut and paste afterwards ... which
makes doing the next line very awkward!

3)
when using draw, the new microsoft office XP insists on
displaying a very large and useless box saying 'create
your drawing here' which throws out any existing
design/content on the page. it does this everytime i pick
up a tool from the toolbar. so my work is slowed down by
constantly having to delete the box.

if so, please reply to
pb@(delete this anti spam bit in brackets)paulabarron.co.uk

thanks very much.
 
Hi pb

1) Regrettably, sadly, the only way to get rid of this annoyance (it's my
pet peeve!) is at Insert > AutoText > AutoText. Un-tick the box "Show
AutoComplete suggestions". Unfortunately, that turns of autocomplete for all
AutoTexts, which is, sadly, like cutting off ones nose to spite ones face.

2) You can turn this off at Tools > Options > Edit. Un-tick "Show Paste
Options buttons". If you do choose to leave it display, you can always turn
off the picture of the clipboard thingy by pressing Escape.

3) This is the Drawing Canvas. You can turn it off at Tools > Options >
General. Un-tick "Automatically create drawing canvas when inserting
AutoShapes". By the way, this drawing canvas does have a use, in some
circumstances. It's really good if you want to create a drawing that
consists of several shapes. The drawing canvas keeps all the shapes
together, and the canvas itself can be manipulated (eg it can be floating,
or in-line). If you do decide to turn off that option, you can still
generate drawing canvas by choosing Insert > Picture > New Drawing.

You might also find the following useful:

Word is always making changes I don't expect. How can I get
more control over my formatting?
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Formatting/TameAutoFormat.htm

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word
 
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