Stop Excel from AutoCorrecting Certain Words

October 06, 2021 - by Bill Jelen

Problem: Every time I type the name of my WYA Division, Excel changes “WYA” to “WAY,”. It is impossible to type WYA without entering it as a formula: =”W”&”Y”&”A”.

Type WYA in Excel. As soon as you press Enter or type a space... — Figure 105. WYA until…

Excel's auto correct changes WYA to WAY. That't fine, unless you really have a WYA division at your company. — Figure 106. …you type a space or press Enter.

Strategy: To help correct common mis-typings, Excel has a large list of words that are automatically replaced as you type. This is a good feature, unless you routinely have to type one of the words that Excel thinks is wrong. Luckily, you can edit this list rather than turning it off. Here’s how:

1. Select File, Options, Proofing, AutoCorrect Options or Alt+T+A.
2. On the AutoCorrect dialog, go to the AutoCorrect tab.
3. Scroll down the Replace Text as You Type section until you find the entry for replacing WYA with WAY. Select that line and click Delete.

In the AutoCorrect dialog, there is a long list of Replace and With. Scroll way down. Find the entry for wya replaced with way and click Delete. — Figure 107. Delete any replacements that cause problems.

This article is an excerpt from Power Excel With MrExcel

Title photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash