Control AutoCorrect Initial Capitals in Gnumeric

Gnumeric can change the second letter of a word that starts with two capitals followed by lowercase text. That can fix a typing mistake, but it can also alter an intentional identifier. Test the rule with disposable text before enabling it for real work.

Scope: Gnumeric 1.12.62 GTK desktop, English interface labels. This guide uses the manual packaged with that release and its source code. The expected strings below were independently checked, not observed in a native application session. There is no screenshot or claim that older Gnumeric screenshots demonstrate this version’s interface.

Record the starting preferences

Use a new, disposable workbook with ordinary unmerged, editable cells. Do not test in an inventory or identifier column containing real data.

1. Open Tools → Auto Correct…. In the reviewed release this opens the Preferences window at Auto Correct. The packaged manual’s older standalone-dialog illustration is not a current screenshot.
2. Record the current states of Capitalize names of days, Correct TWo INitial CApitals under INitial CApitals, and Capitalize first letter of sentence under First Letter. Record the existing initial-capitals exception list as well.
3. In the Preferences Tools page, record Autocomplete and turn it off for this exercise. Column completion is different from AutoCorrect and should not supply part of your test input.
4. Turn off the day-name and sentence-capitalization rules. Turn off the two-initial-capitals rule initially. Leave all existing exceptions unchanged.
5. Inspect the initial-capitals exception list. This exercise requires that none of its entries is a prefix of the exact case-sensitive test word ZXsample. For example, ZX, ZXs or ZXsample would interfere. If such an entry exists, stop this particular exercise rather than delete a real exception.

Preference changes are applied through the controls; closing the workbook is not a substitute for restoring them. Keep your recorded settings until the final restoration check.

Compare correction off, on and excepted

For each row below, click the stated cell, type the input manually, then press ordinary Enter to commit it. Do not paste a block or use a formula. Inspect the committed cell’s text, not just the letters visible while editing.

Cell	Rule and exception state before typing	Type	Expected committed text
A1	Initial-capitals rule off	ZXsample	ZXsample
A2	Initial-capitals rule on, no matching exception	ZXsample	Zxsample
A3	Rule still on, no matching exception	ZX	ZX
A4	Rule on, ZXsample exception added	ZXsample	ZXsample
A5	Rule on, that practice exception removed	ZXsample	Zxsample

After A1, reopen Tools → Auto Correct… → INitial CApitals, enable Correct TWo INitial CApitals, then enter A2 and A3. A2 changes only its second character: uppercase X becomes lowercase x. A3 contains only two capitals and has no following lowercase character, so this rule does not change it.

Before entering A4, type ZXsample into Do not correct: and choose Add. Confirm that the exact text appears in the exception list. After checking A4, select only this newly added practice exception and choose Remove. Confirm its removal before entering A5. Do not remove unrelated entries.

The five expected strings are ZXsample, Zxsample, ZX, ZXsample, Zxsample, with lengths 8, 8, 2, 8, 8. Length alone is not a sufficient check: the corrected and preserved eight-character strings have different second letters.

Understand the exception boundary

The reviewed initial-capitals code checks exceptions as case-sensitive prefixes, not only whole-word matches. Adding ZXsample can therefore also protect a longer token beginning with those exact characters. Avoid a short exception such as ZX unless that wider scope is intentional.

This exercise deliberately avoids sentence punctuation, formulas, non-ASCII text and words with later uppercase letters. The implementation has additional conditions, so this small example is not a promise to lowercase every second capital in arbitrary text. The day-name and sentence rules are separate options; their full behavior is outside this guide.

Changing the preference does not retroactively rewrite the five previously committed test cells. For example, enabling the rule for A2 does not make A1 become Zxsample. Likewise, removing the exception for A5 is not a bulk repair operation on existing identifiers.

Restore safely and diagnose mismatches

Restore all three recorded AutoCorrect switch states and the original Autocomplete setting. Confirm that the initial-capitals exception list is exactly as it was before the exercise. The practice workbook may then be discarded; settings still need restoration even if you discard it.

• A2 stays ZXsample: verify that the rule is enabled, no existing exception prefixes the test word, and you committed a freshly typed value. Looking at A1 again does not retest entry under the new setting.
• A4 becomes Zxsample: confirm the exception was actually added, with uppercase ZX and the same remaining spelling, before entry. Typing into the exception box without pressing Add is insufficient.
• Unexpected text appears while typing: check that Autocomplete is off and that you are entering plain text in the intended new cell.
• A real identifier was changed: stop entering data. Disable the offending rule or add a suitably narrow exception before re-entering the correct value from the original source. Do not guess the original spelling from the changed value.
• Controls or results differ: restore your recorded preferences and record the installed version and exact failed step. Do not silently adopt this source-based expectation as an observed result.

For general entry and checking practices, see Gnumeric tutorials. For preserving meaning during a transfer, see Gnumeric compatibility.

First-party evidence and limits

Reviewed 2026-10-22: the packaged Advanced Data Entry manual, Preferences implementation, AutoCorrect rule implementation, and menu action implementation. The linked source corresponds to the reviewed released-source evidence. Actual UI execution, preference persistence across restarts and saved-workbook reopening remain untested for this article.