AutoFormatting a Document

Word includes a feature that formats what you type, as you type it. You probably take many of these automatic formatting (AutoFormat) adjustments for granted. Word does things like change your quotes to Smart Quotes, automatically creating bulleted and numbered lists, and changing the indentation of paragraphs.

This is fine and good for many people, but what if you get a document from someone else, and it needs a lot of the "little touches" applied to it? This is where the real industrial-strength AutoFormat feature of Word comes into play. You see, AutoFormat doesn't just come into play as you type--it also is available, on demand, to format an entire document. To apply AutoFormat, simply follow these steps:

1. Load the document you want to format.
2. Choose AutoFormat from the Format menu. Word displays the AutoFormat dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
3. If you are using Word 97 or a later version, use the radio buttons to indicate if you want AutoFormat to work without stopping for your input, or not.
4. Click on OK.

At this point, AutoFormat works its magic, and your document is "reformatted" to appear as it would have if you had typed it yourself.

You should understand that it is very unlikely that AutoFormat will do all the formatting you need done. Each document is different, and you should make sure you examine the document after AutoFormat is completed to see if there are any other formatting tasks you need to complete.