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Tech Tip

Taking Your AutoCorrect Entries With You

Q. I have years of personal AutoCorrect data entries I have made for Microsoft Word. Is it possible to transfer these settings to another computer running Word?

A. It is possible to transfer your collection of AutoCorrect entries that you have been compiling over the years to fix habitual typos, insert characters and shortcut other keystrokes in Microsoft Word. Recent versions of Microsoft Office for Windows and Mac store the customized data in two places, depending on whether the AutoCorrect entry is formatted or unformatted within Word. Unformatted entries are stored in AutoCorrect List files in a folder on the computer, and entries that have formatting are stored in the program’s Normal template, which contains your chosen default styles and other preferences for the Word documents you create.

As with any major computer fiddling, it’s always a good idea to back up your current system before moving anything around. Make sure the Microsoft Word program is closed as well.

Next, you need to find the AutoCorrect List files stored on the computer, drag a copy of those files onto an external drive or cloud server, and then copy them to the right place within Microsoft Word on the other computer. Microsoft has sample instructions for various versions of its Word program, including Word 2007 and Word 2010, and you can get an idea of what to expect on the Mac from the WordMVP site.

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Once you locate the AutoCorrect List files on your computer, copy them to a portable drive and then transfer them to Microsoft Word on another machine.Credit...The New York Times

The exact location of these files varies based on the computer system and the version of Word you have been using. On a Windows PC, try looking in C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Office or try entering the %AppData%\Microsoft\Office shortcut in the Windows Explorer (or File Explorer in Windows 10) address bar.

On a Mac, select your user folder and then go to /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/Preferences/Office 2011. Users with older versions of the program might try going down the path of [USER]/Library/Preferences/Microsoft instead.

Once you locate the Autocorrect List files on the old computer, copy them onto a USB drive or server and then copy them to the same location within Word on the new computer. Keep in mind that this will wipe out any AutoCorrect entries you have previously created on the new computer.

After transferring the unformatted entries to the new computer, move the formatted entries. To do this, transfer a copy of the Normal.dot or Normal.dotm file to the corresponding folder on the other computer.

On a PC, try going to C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates. On a Mac, start with your user folder and go to Library\Application Support\Microsoft\Office\User Templates to find the Normal template. Before dragging a copy of the template from the older computer to the templates folder on the new one, rename the existing file Normal.bak to create a backup.

Now, open Word on the new machine and check that your custom entries are there. As an alternative, you might be able to find utility programs to do the heavy lifting for you. Kutools for Word is one such option intended to simplify the process for Windows.

Personal Tech invites questions about computer-based technology to techtip@nytimes.com. This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually.

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