How to add list of abbreviations in word

Karl works in an occupation that uses a lot of acronyms. Their standard procedure is to define the acronym only the first time it's used within the document. In addition, they always need to create an appendix, at the end of the document, listing the acronyms in alphabetical order along with their meanings. Karl is looking for a way to perhaps "mark" the acronym in the main body and have the acronym appendix be automatically created.

There is no way to do this directly in Word. There are several types of tables you can create automatically, such as tables of contents, tables of authorities, and indexes. These last two tables [tables of authorities and indexes] could possibly be used to create the acronym list, but only if they are not already being added to your document and only if you don't mind your acronym list including page numbers.

If you want to use the table of authorities tool in order to create an acronym list, Shauna Kelly has put together a great article on how this can be done. The article specifically talks about glossaries, which essentially what an acronym list would be.

//www.ShaunaKelly.com/word/glossary/glossary.html

If you want to use the index tool in order to create your list, you can follow these general steps, assuming that the acronym, when defined, is followed by its meaning within parentheses:

1. Select the acronym and its meaning. This means that you find the first instance of the acronym in your document and then select that acronym along with the parenthetical meaning that follows it.
2. Press Alt+Shift+X to mark the selected text for the index.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the other acronyms you want in your list.
4. At the end of your document, insert your index. How to actually insert an index has been covered in other issues of WordTips.

You'll note that this approach leaves the parentheses in your index. If you don't want the parentheses, then you'll need to go to each acronym that you marked and display the field code used for the index. It will look something like this:

{ XE "abbrev [this is the definition]" }

Within the field code you can remove the parentheses so that the text appears just as you want it to appear in the acronym list. If you use the above method to mark only the first instance of the acronym—where it is first defined—then there will be a single page number for each acronym in your list. If you like the idea of having page numbers, but want them for all instances of each acronym, then you'll need to mark each occurrence of the acronyms—a much more involved task.

If you prefer not to use the either of the methods already described, you could create a macro that will aid you in creating your acronym list. The following macro essentially copies whatever text you have highlighted to the end of the document.

Sub Send_2_acronym_list[] With ActiveDocument.Bookmarks .Add Range:=Selection.Range, Name:="xxxHERExxx" .DefaultSorting = wdSortByName .ShowHidden = True End With Selection.Copy Selection.EndKey Unit:=wdStory Selection.TypeParagraph Selection.PasteAndFormat [wdPasteDefault] Selection.GoTo What:=wdGoToBookmark, Name:="xxxHERExxx" Application.Run MacroName:="Normal.MoreNewMacros.EditGoTo" Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1 End Sub

The idea is to select your first instance of the acronym, along with its definition, and then invoke the macro. A bookmark is set at the current location, the text is copied, the end of the document is selected, and the text added there. Then the bookmark is used so that the original location can again be selected.

When you are done "marking" your acronyms in this manner, you can select the text that was copied to the end of the document and format it [or edit it] in any way desired.

If you want an approach that is even more automated, then you may be able to create a macro that will scan through your document and extract any acronyms it finds. In order for an approach like this to work, you'll need to make sure that you religiously follow a rigid structure for your acronyms and their definitions. The following macro assumes that the acronym will always be a string of uppercase letters followed by a space and then some parenthetical text.

Sub ListAcronyms[] Dim strAcronym As String Dim strDefine As String Dim strOutput As String Dim newDoc As Document Application.ScreenUpdating = False Selection.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory ActiveWindow.View.ShowHiddenText = False 'Loop to find all acronyms Do 'Search for acronyms using wildcards Selection.Find.ClearFormatting With Selection.Find .ClearFormatting .Text = "" .Replacement.Text = "" .Forward = True .Wrap = wdFindStop .Format = False .MatchCase = True .MatchWildcards = True .MatchWholeWord = True .Execute End With 'Only process if something found If Selection.Find.Found Then 'Make a string from the selection, add it to the 'output string strAcronym = Selection.Text 'Look for definition Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdWord Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter, _ Extend:=wdExtend strDefine = "" If Selection.Text = "[" Then While Selection "]" strDefine = strDefine & Selection.Text Selection.Collapse Direction:=wdCollapseEnd Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter, _ Extend:=wdExtend Wend End If Selection.Collapse Direction:=wdCollapseEnd If Left[strDefine, 1] = "[" Then strDefine = Mid[strDefine, 2, Len[strDefine]] End If If strDefine > "" Then 'Check if the search result is in the Output string 'if it is, ignore the search result If InStr[strOutput, strAcronym] = 0 Then strOutput = strOutput & strAcronym _ & vbTab & strDefine & vbCr End If End If End If Loop Until Not Selection.Find.Found 'Create new document and change active document Set newDoc = Documents.Add 'Insert the text Selection.TypeText Text:=strOutput 'Sort it newDoc.Content.Sort SortOrder:=wdSortOrderAscending Application.ScreenUpdating = True Selection.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory End Sub

The macro looks through the document for anything it thinks might be an acronym. If it finds a candidate, it looks after it to see if it is followed by an opening parenthesis. If so, then everything up to the closing parenthesis is considered the definition for the acronym. Once the macro is finished going through the document, it creates a new document, adds the acronyms there, and then sorts them all.

Note:

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. [Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.] This tip [446] applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word [Word 2007 and later] here: Auto Creation of an Acronym List.

Microsoft Edge Word for Microsoft 365 Word for the web More...Less

Acronyms are used everywhere, especially within companies, but their meaning is often a mystery to people outside or new to the company or new to a specific department within it.

When you need to know, Microsoft search can help you find the meaning of these arcane acronyms. You can use the search box in Bing, SharePoint, and Office.com or the Acronyms pane in Word. 

This feature is available to Enterprise Office 365 Subscribers only.

Use the search box in Bing, SharePoint, or Office.com to get results that include all of the meanings and definitions that are relevant to you and your organization. On any of these sites, just enter an acronym and keywords about meaning or definition in the search box. For example, you could search for the acronym "FTE" using any of the following queries:

• What is FTE

• define fte

• FTE definition

• expand FTE

• fte expansion

• meaning of fte

• FTE means

The results show common meanings of "FTE" used at work. Note that your query must includes the acronym’s specified keywords to trigger its corresponding answers. Acronym queries are not case sensitive. 

Acronyms in search is available for the following languages: 

• Bing:    English [EN], Spanish [ES], French [FR], Italian [IT], German [DE], and Portuguese [PT]

• SharePoint and Office.com:    US English [EN-US] only, with additional languages coming in the future

To help meet the acronym challenge, Word can display a list of the acronyms used in a document. 

To see a list of defined acronyms,

1. Go to References > Acronyms.

2. In the Acronyms pane, find the acronyms from your document with their definitions.

   To see where the acronym definition was found, select Found in a shared file, Found in your email, or Defined by your organization .

The Acronyms pane is available for:

• Word for desktop:    US English [EN-US] only at this time, with additional languages coming in the future

• Word for the web:    Any of the languages currently supported by Editor.

When working in Word for the web, Editor will keep track of defined acronyms as you write.

To manage acronyms in Editor,

1. On the Home tab, select Editor.

2. In the Editor pane, under Refinements, note the number next to Acronyms.

3. If there are any acronyms indicated there, click Acronyms to see them in your text. Word will take you to the first instance of any acronym in the document and select it.

4. When you select an acronym in the text, Word offers possible definitions and other options. Do one of the following:

   • To write out the definition of an acronym, select the definition you want from the list. Word will insert the definition in parentheses following the acronym. Defining the first instance of an acronym in this way is a good writing practice.

   • To do nothing and have Word stop defining the acronym, select Ignore.

   • To move to the next or previous acronym in the text, click the right or left arrow.

When you've defined or ignored all acronyms that Editor noted in the text, you'll see the number next to Acronym change to a check mark.

Tip: If there are multiple instances of an acronym, Editor only highlights the first instance.

Acronym definitions are extracted separately for each person from the emails and documents they have access to. IT admins can also add a list of acronyms and their definitions that are available to the whole organization.

When an acronym definition appears in the Acronyms pane, you'll see the source below it:  Found in a shared file, Found in your email, or Defined by your organization.

You can only see acronyms and their definitions when you have access to the documents and emails that the acronym definitions are produced from.

Only defined acronyms are displayed. If an acronym from your document isn't shown, you may not have access to a document or email where the acronym is defined. It's also possible that we haven't found a definition of the acronym yet because the acronym extraction process only occurs every few days.