For years, I have been able to type (c) and the copyright symbol would appear. It quit working and I have no idea why. FWIW, on this new laptop, I also have Office 2010 Starter, which I have used. (I don't use it anymore, as it is not full-featured.) But I have also used my 2007 Word even after that, and the copyright thing worked. But now, it quit working.

Click the Office button, and then click Word Options. In the Proofing category, click AutoCorrect Options. On the AutoCorrect tab, make sure that "Replace text as you type" is selected. If you don't see "(c)" listed, with the copyright sign as the replacement, you can recreate it. (In the "Replace" box, type in (c) and then press Alt+0169 to insert the copyright sign in the "With" box. When you are done, click Add, and then OK.)

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Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

I just did what you said and it fixed it. What I'd like to know is why did this ever happen? Why did mine change? BTW, thanks!

That depends. Was the problem that the entry was missing or was "Replace as you type" deselected?

If the entry was missing, it could have been deleted by mistake. Alternatively, the wrong language could have been applied to text. Note that AutoCorrect is language-dependent.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

I think it was "replace as you type" was deselected. I certainly didn't do that and wonder how the heck that happened.