Problems when using contractions such as I'm, I'll, etc. Any help?

Anonymous
2012-07-04T04:34:34+00:00

I'm having a problem whenever I try to use contractions that begin with "I" - such as I'm, I'll, etc. When I type "I'm", I get "I'  M" followed by a beep. Same thing with "I'll" - Outlook will type it as "I' L" and beep, not allowing me to enter any new characters until I delete the old and I have to type "I am" or "I will". "I've" is also a problem. It's seems as if the auto spell checker is just choking on any contraction beginning with "I"?

Yes, I am running the latest developer version of Mountain Lion but I've been running it for months with no problems in any Office app. This is something new and totally off the wall.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Clinton

Outlook | MacOS | Legacy Outlook for Mac | For business

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments No comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2012-07-28T04:59:25+00:00

Final update:

Update to Mavericks to resolve this issue.

The problem is related to webkit.  Webkit is a component of OS X (it is the HTML rendering engine behind Safari).  The bug was reported to Apple shortly after this thread started.  The fix was released recently in the version of webkit included with Mavericks.

===

As a temporary workaround please turn off the "Capitalize first letter of sentences" autocorrect setting.

Select the menu Outlook, Preferences, Autocorrect and uncheck "Capitalize first letter of sentences".

===

Update:

The recent Mac Office 14.2.5 release did not contain a fix for this issue.

The problem is related to webkit.  Webkit is a component of OS X (it is the HTML rendering engine behind Safari).  The bug was reported to Apple shortly after this thread started and we are eagerly waiting on a fix.

Apple released version 6.0.2 of Safari early November 2012, including a webkit update.  It is that update which is causing people to see changed, but not fixed, behavior.

The particular test case I have been using to reproduce the problem still fails with Safari 6.0.2.  Other uses are reporting that situations which were broken before now work.

There is no benefit in trying new identities or new user accounts.  The issue is well understood as being a webkit regression from when Mountain Lion was released.  It is not related to any problem with your identity, account or installation.

The above temporary workaround is still the only solution to suppress the problem until a complete webkit fix is released.  Updating to Safari 6.0.2 through Apple Software update may address some situations.

Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments

90 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
  1. Anonymous
    2013-04-02T20:56:02+00:00

    I had never suffered any of these capitalization problems until this week, Started after I downloaded and used Mountain Lion Tweaks app. Might just be a coincidence, but I noticed two things - non retina images were highlighted in red (now mended) and capitalization after the apostrophe started to happen in my email client, Entourage 2008. I have not loaded Outlook 2011 but the rest of my office apps (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) are 2011. The weird thing is, it only happens to one specific word - I'M - and only in Entourage. In fact I am having trouble setting out the word here in this reply, as some autocorrect function keeps trying to set it correctly as  "I'm". 

    Nothing helps - switching various combinations of autocorrect instructions on or off, whether in Entourage or in any of the 2011 Office apps. I'm pretty frustrated, but wondered why this has just happened only now. Like DianeRoss/Oregon, I had never had any bother in this department before, and the only recent change I can think of is my use of Lion/Mountain Tweaks ver 1.1. I wondered whether my attempt to mend the red highlighting of certain icons and buttons across the system, caused by my switching on the tweak for "Highlighting non-retina images" is what made this weakness in Mountain Lion come up to annoy me. To remove the red, I had to resort to the "restore system defaults" button in ML Tweaks. It is as though, by doing this, I have inadvertently restore ML to a version which contains the capitalization fault. I tried to download and reinstall ML from the App store, but that has not removed the capitalization fault.

    And by the way, I noticed that the capitalization is irrespective of what lettering goes before the apostrophe. Just simply typing an apostrophe and the m after it causes the problem. Apostrophe plus any other lettering does not cause any problem. The trouble is, 'I'm' is just about the most frequently occurring word in emails so it is REALLY annoying to have to check and correct. The Entourage autocorrect function cannot cope with it.

    Does anyone know if this problem has now been or is about to be resolved by those developers at MS?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  2. Anonymous
    2013-03-19T20:30:30+00:00

    Some questions so I can make sure we understand all the ways in which this is happening and fix it properly.

    1. Does it happen on new emails as well as replies?
    2. Are you sending HTML format emails or plan text emails? (when composing a message click the options tab to see what format the message is).  Does it happen on both?
    3. Are you doing anything special, such as changing the fonts as I am, to cause this or does it happen every time you compose an email with no special steps?
    4. Can you please check Outlook, Preferences, AutoCorrect.  Th default is that everything is checked on both the tabs.  Is this the case for you or have you changed these settings from the default

    Outlook Version: 14.2.3 (120616)

    1. Yes, it happens on new emails and replies (see #3)
    2. HTML format.  I never experienced the error with plain text.
    3. Changing the font name or **** size and then typing activates (precipitates, precedes, causes, is required for...) the error.
    4. Defaults are selected.

    The error does not seem to have been fixed.  Changing the font and then changing it back doesn't make it happen - you have to change the font and then work with the new font to make the error happen.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2013-03-19T19:34:20+00:00

    I'm gonna have to side with JakeTown, above, on this one.  I am running 14.3.2 and am still seeing the same old behavior.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  4. Anonymous
    2013-03-19T19:28:26+00:00

    I just updated this afternoon to 14.3.2 and it appears to be fixed for me .. no more of those crazy autocorrects on contractions.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments