I have a pet peeve.....and it's pretty nerdy of me.
You know what really grinds my gears?
As much as I love technology and all the things in life that it makes easier, I absolutely hate when technology makes things harder.
Think: auto-correcting words that you spelled correctly (like my own name). Or when my phone silences an incoming call because it think it's spam, but it was really the call from a medical supply company I've been waiting for for weeks.
And when I'm working in Microsoft Word, there are certain Auto-Formatting features that I absolutely HATE. And the one I hate the most is when it tries to automatically number lists. Sometimes when I'm working within a document with lists, I need to add things in without creating a new number - but the auto-format will automatically give it a number and update all the numbers after it. And I get frustrated. And I try to fix it, and it changes how the paragraphs are formatted, and I get enraged and.....I think briefly about throwing my computer out of a window.
And maybe there are other auto-formatting options that drive you to this same rage. Maybe when Microsoft automatically adds in a line, or maybe you hate that when you type in a fraction, it makes the numbers smaller to differentiate that it's a fraction, but because it's smaller it makes it so that the fraction is harder to read.
Good news! You can change any auto-format function in MIcrosoft Word.
To do so, you just go to File, Options. Then on the Proofing tab, you will want to click on Auto Correct Options.
In the box that opens, you will see that there are five different subcategories that you can click through at the top.
Since I am dealing with an issue that is auto formatting, I have clicked on the Auto Formatting As You Type tab.
As you can see, in the second section "Apply As You Type" there is an option for Automatic Numbered Lists that is currently checked.
If I uncheck that box and click OK - no more automatically numbered lists! Hallelujah!
You can take time to click around on the different tabs to see what else you can turn on and off. I, for one, am excited to see what other pesky automations I can silence!
