Quotes disappear when save to TXT file?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Al Franz
  • Start date Start date
A

Al Franz

Have a word document and when I save it to a TXT file the quotation marks to
not save properly in the document, get a strange character. Is there a way
to save a document in Word to a TXT file so the special characters still
transfer well to a TXT file?
 
I haven't found a way, but I just wanted to let you know that I feel
your pain. This happens to me all the time.

-Nancy
 
You'll need to convert your "smart quotes" to "straight quotes." The easiest
way to do this is before you start creating the document, by disabling the
option on the AutoFormat As You Type tab of Tools | AutoCorrect. If you have
already typed the document, however, do it this way:

1. Disable the "smart quotes" formatting option.

2. Press Ctrl+H to open the Find and Replace dialog.

3. In the "Find what" box, type " (the double quote character or shifted
apostrophe).

4. In the "Replace with" box, type " (the same character).

5. Replace All.

Don't forget to reenable smart quotes for your documents that need them.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 
If this is something you will be doing regularly, here's a macro that
does it all for you in one step. Just install this macro in your VB
editor and assign it to a menu or keystroke.

Sub StraightQuotesApply()
' by Larry
' Turns off Smart Quotes feature, and replaces quotes by quotes, turning
all smart
' quotes in document into straight quotes and "smart apostrophes" into
straight apostrophes.

' Turn off Smart Quotes feature.
If Options.AutoFormatAsYouTypeReplaceQuotes = True Then _
Options.AutoFormatAsYouTypeReplaceQuotes = False

' Replace quotes with straight quotes.
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = """"
.Replacement.Text = """"
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll

' replace "smart" apostophes with straight apostrophes
With Selection.Find
.Text = "[‘’]"
.Replacement.Text = "'"
.Forward = True
.MatchWildcards = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll

' clear Find
With Selection.Find
..MatchWildcards = False
End With

End Sub
 
Al Franz said:
Have a word document and when I save it to a TXT file the quotation
marks to not save properly in the document, get a strange character.
Is there a way to save a document in Word to a TXT file so the special
characters still transfer well to a TXT file?
Click to expand...


Hi Al,

I'm curious:
All Word text export filters in all versions of Word I know save smart
quotes as straight quotes (...which often is really a nuisance, since the
Windows code page has smart quotes. So most "plain text" editors, graphics
programs and so on would have no problems with them).

What version do you use? And what "strange character" do you get?

Greetings,
Klaus
 
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