Or else what? Well, you can always permanently or temporarily disable the automatic correction feature in Word, and I'll show you how. But once you understand it, it's more efficient to surrender your will to Word. AutoCorrect is a great help if it is set correctly.

The best way to understand AutoCorrect in Word is to look at the possibilities. In Word, go to Tools and select AutoCorrect Options in the pull-down Tools menu. There are five tabs: AutoCorrect, AutoText, AutoFormat, AutoFormat As You Type, and Smart Tags. We'll tackle AutoFormat As You Type first, because it seems to be the one that usually drives people crazy.

Click on AutoFormat As You Type. Read all the lovely possibilities for Word to make you nuts--everything in the list that is checked is something that Word will do for you without asking your permission first. If Automatic Bulleted Lists and/or Automatic Numbered Lists are checked, then whenever you insert a bullet or type a number that looks to Word like you want to start a list, Word will automatically assume you want a bulleted or numbered list and will format it as such. This is a feature that I happen to like, because I know I can easily alter the style of the bulleted or numbered list (more on that later) when I want. It bothers a lot of people, though, especially those who aren't familiar with Word's list formatting options. If you're one of those, you can easily turn this feature off by unchecking those boxes. Ta-da!! No more aggravating changes made by Word behind your back.

Word does have a mind of its own, sort of, but you are the one who decides whether or not to let Word use its full brain power, or whether to put yourself fully in control (in all your smarter-than-Word glory). Check out the other things in the AutoFormat As You Type list and you'll begin to see why Word does some of the things it does. Feel free to check or uncheck according to your preferences. You can easily change whatever you choose later.