Degree Sign Help

[JohnCBee]

Hello All, I am new to the forum and I came here to hopefully get some help from someone more knowledgeable than me!
I currently have a Pro 6 and for some reason I couldn't find that choice when I was registering. I love my Surface and this is the 3rd one that I have had. I believe that I am hooked because of the removeable keyboard. It is so easy to use it as a reading tablet with the keyboard removed.

My question is this. Back in early 2022 I created or activate a way to insert a degree sign, °, by typing 3 periods. This works in OneNote, Excel, Outlook and Word. It may work in some other Microsoft programs but it doesn't work in Chrome or Edge.

I keep a journal in OneNote and I record the temperature every morning. Typing the degree sign is so easy typing the 3 periods. I know there are other ways to get the symbol but they are cumbersome for me.

I thought I would set up my desktop with this same feature but I couldn't remember how I did it. I had thought that I used Power Toys but I can't seem to find a way in that app.

Can anyone help me with this? I would be grateful to know how I did this and then forgot how I manage it.

Thank you for your help,
John

 

[GoMan]

Hello John,

Many applications are available that will substitute any letter or symbol in text with a new letter or symbol. A text expander is an application that lets you type a shorter character sequence in place of actual words, phrases, and sentences.

So, I have discovered a free app called Beeftext, which will perform the text substitution you desire.

1. Download the Beeftext Installer and install the app.

2. Once installed, launch Beeftext.

3. Now, click on Combos and select New from the drop-down list.

4. Enter the degree symbol (°) for the shortcut you wish to create in the Snippet window. Then, create your shortcut or abbreviation (three periods) in the Keyword field. Click OK when finished.

5. The newly created Combo appears below.

6. Text replacement will only work when the Beeftext app is running, so ensuring that the app auto-starts when starting Windows is advisable. In the Beeftext app, navigate to File > Preferences, and enable the checkbox next to 'Automatically start Beeftext at login.'

7. And that's all there is to it. You can rename 'Default Group' to something else if you wish.

 

[JohnCBee]

Thanks GoMan, I did download the program and I will check it out.

I figured out how I created the shortcut for the degree sign. While is was typing the 3 periods into OneNote I noticed a box that showed up beside the degree symbol. It was a box showing Auto Correct Options. That is when I remembered setting the shortcut up. This is an option that is available for most office programs if not all of them.
Needless to say I was happy to discover how I had originally done this. When I replace my Surface 6 I will be able to do the same on my new machine.