Stop Changing My (c) To A Copyright Symbol Damn It !
by Francis Hayes (The Excel Addict)
Maybe this has been annoying you forever. Or maybe you've noticed it only since you've upgraded your version of Excel. Or maybe you have already have discovered the cause and solution for this little Excel annoyance.
Don't get me wrong, AutoCorrect can be a pretty useful feature in Excel but there ARE times when it can get in the way. One of the most common complaints I hear regarding AutoCorrect is its tendency to display a copyright symbol (i.e. © ) whenever a commonly-used bullet point (c) is typed.
Same goes for Excel 'autocorrecting' (e) to a Euro symbol (i.e. € ) and 'autocorrecting' (r) to a registered trademark symbol (i.e. ® ).
If you never use these symbols in your worksheets, you CAN make Excel stop.
Thankfully there is a simple solution.
1) From the File
tab click Options. The Excel Options
dialog opens;
2) On the left side of the dialog box click Proofing and then click the AutoCorrect Options... button;
3) On the AutoCorrect tab you will see a list of characters and symbols in the Replace / With section;
4) Scroll down and find the (c) in the Replace column, select it and click the Delete button. While you're here, take a look at the other items in the AutoCorrect list such as '(e)' and '(r)'. You can delete any others that have been causing you grief as well;
5) Click OK.
2) On the left side of the dialog box click Proofing and then click the AutoCorrect Options... button;
3) On the AutoCorrect tab you will see a list of characters and symbols in the Replace / With section;
4) Scroll down and find the (c) in the Replace column, select it and click the Delete button. While you're here, take a look at the other items in the AutoCorrect list such as '(e)' and '(r)'. You can delete any others that have been causing you grief as well;
5) Click OK.
If you ever need to add either of these symbols back into AutoCorrect, type the value you want to replace in the Replace column and, in the 'With' column, hold down the ALT key on your keyboard and type the following codes. Note that you have to type these numbers using the numeric keypad, not the numbers row on the top of your keyboard.
| Replace | With | Hold down
the ALT key and type (you must use the numeric keypad) |
| (c) | © | 0169 |
| (r) | ® | 0174 |
| (tm) | ™ | 0153 |
Undo a Particular
AutoCorrect Item
If you
don't want to permanently delete an item from the
AutoCorrect list but still want the text to display exactly
as you type it, there is another simple solution.
As you are typing the text,
such as (c), and Excel automatically
changes it to © (i.e. a copyright symbol),
immediately press CTRL+Z (i.e. Undo) and
it will undo the autocorrection and display exactly what you
typed.
Note that you must press
CTRL+Z, immediately after the autocorrection occurs, as you are typing.
For example, the autocorrection occurs after you type a
space or other character following input of an AutoCorrect
item.
If you found this tip helpful, please share it with your friends and colleagues.
To get more tips every week like this one...
'Spreadsheet Tips From An Excel Addict'
'Excel in Seconds' & 'Excel in Minutes'
Plus you also get my 'Excel in Seconds' E-book as a BONUS!
(Download it immediately after you sign up)
Copyright Francis Hayes © All Rights Reserved
8 Lexington Place, Conception Bay South, NL Canada A1X 6A2
Phone 709-834-4630
This site is not affiliated with Microsoft Corporation.