The Writing Center

by Ruth Rogers ‘07

I find it highly annoying when software acts as though it knows what I want better than I do. One such quirk of WORD is its insistence on changing the font and color and underlining when I type in a URL (website address). As if that’s not insult enough, it’s so sure it knows how I want my text that when I attempt to remove the underlining or change the font and color in the usual ways it refuses to acknowlege my changes. The audacity!

It’s a battle you can win, however. There are two ways — one is temporary; you have to repeat it for each URL you type. The other is permanent, and is a great solution if you aren’t in the habit of writing documents that need to be hyperlinked.

To change a single URL that WORD has reformatted, right-click on the URL.In the pop-up menu this produces, select Hyperlink… and then Edit Hyperlink. This will bring up a dialogue box which, in its lower left-hand corner, contains a button that says remove link. Contrary to how it sounds, this will not erase your link; it will simply remove the formatting that was applied to it without your permission.

To eliminate this annoyance altogether, go to the Tools menu at the top of the WORD window, pull it down, and select “AutoCorrect.” Select the AutoFormat As You Type tab, and in the Replace as you type section find the checkbox for Internet and network paths with hyperlinks. Remove the checkmark from that box. For good measure, click on the tab that says AutoFormat and do the same thing there. Now click OK. WORD will no longer attempt to second-guess you when you try to enter a URL in your APA-formatted reference list.