Follow-Up: Special Characters

There is more than one way to skin a cat!

As a follow up on last week’s special character tip, I have 3 alternatives to using special characters that are not on the keyboard. The first two are very similar and the third could be considered a tip/trick.

1. Insert a symbol through the Window’s Character Map by going through Start>All Programs>Accessories>System tools>Character Map

2. Insert Symbol through Office Application – When you are in any of the applications you can insert a symbol directly through the application (which will resemble the Character Map above). Found by going through Insert > Symbol [Alt + I , S]

3. AutoCorrect - You can have Excel Automatically replace precise text strings with new ones. This was probably designed to keep you from typing “asses” when you meant “assess,” but we can hack it for our own use.

For example we could have Excel replace something like “~D~” with “Δ”; or something like “0163” with “£”

To get to the Auto Correct options in 2007 open up Excel’s Options [Alt + T, O] then go to the Proofing tab. In 2003, once in Excel’s Options, go to the Spelling tab. Once you are in the AutoCorrect Options… in the “Replace text as you type” dialog frame you will find two text boxes. Type the code you want to get replaced in the “Replace” box and what you would like it to be replaced with in the “With” box. Then click add. (See below)

Note: in order to get the special character in the “With” box you are going to have to FIRST insert the symbol into a cell (using Insert Symbol Form [Alt + I , S]), then Copy it to your clipboard before you can Paste it into your with box.

AutoCorrect options are available in all windows applications; however you will have to maintain the list of automatic replacements individually within each application.

Special Thanks to DCJ & Thuy Kim for inspiring a follow-up.

Remember send me your requests/tips/questions to inspire future tip of the weeks.

-Danny