Secondly, you might be tempted to set up your AutoCorrect to use these instead of the (for example) “B-flat” that I have suggested.

If you are in the habit of using the pound sign (#) and lowercase b for sharp and flat signs, first of all, shame on you for such unprofessional documents.

I find these to be problematic for use in Word, and prefer to stick with text fonts.

If you use music notation software such as Finale on your computer, you may have notation fonts installed.

Experiment with the fonts on your system that have the music symbols, and find one that works for you. In the sample below, you can see that on the left, the line spacing remains consistent (the flat is in MS Reference Sans Serif) on the right, the flat symbol takes up more vertical space and makes its line taller (Lucida Sans Unicode). I like the MS Reference Sans Serif font for this because it produces appealing symbols AND because it doesn’t mess up my line spacing. Any font with “Unicode” in the title (like “Arial Unicode” or “Lucida Sans Unicode”) is likely to have the music symbols, but others might have them, too.

The fonts available on your system might be different from mine.

In step 2, use “266f” for sharp and “266e” for natural, and in step 4 use “-sharp” and “-natural.”

Hit backspace three times to erase what you just typed, then repeat steps 2-6 for the sharp and natural signs.

Hit Backspace to delete the flat from your document.

Next to “With:,” make sure “Formatted text” is selected. On the “AutoCorrect” tab, make sure “Replace text as you type” is checked. A dialog box appears click “Proofing” at its left-hand side.

Click the “Office Button” in the upper left-hand corner, then click the “Word Options” button on the menu that appears. Choose one that is to your liking, and click “OK.” I chose “MS Reference Sans Serif.” Some fonts will display a flat some will display a box or some other symbol-not all fonts include the flat symbol. Use your up and down arrow keys to scroll through your fonts, and notice what happens in the “Preview” area.

Highlight the symbol, and press Ctrl-D.

The “266d” should turn into a flat symbol.

Instructions are for Word 2007 running on Windows Vista, and may need to be adapted slightly for your setup. Here’s how to set up Microsoft Word to automatically insert sharp, flat, and natural signs for you.

How to type a flat symbol in word