What term describes auto-completing a response after typing a few characters and pressing Enter or Tab?

• A. Smart Fill
• B. Completion Matching
• C. Auto Suggest
• D. Typeahead

Answer: (B)

This describes completing a pre-defined entry by using the characters you’ve typed to find a matching full item and then filling in the rest when you confirm with Enter or Tab. The term that fits this behavior best is completion matching because it emphasizes the two key steps: matching your short input to a complete option and then completing the rest of the text upon acceptance. It’s about finishing the rest of the response from a known set once you trigger acceptance.

Why the other terms aren’t as precise: typeahead is usually about showing possible options as you type, often without instantly filling in the rest; auto-suggest implies offering possible completions but not necessarily completing the exact rest of a chosen item; smart fill isn’t a standard term for this exact action of finishing a long entry from a short prefix. The emphasis here is on matching a prefix to a complete entry and completing it with a keystroke, which is what completion matching describes.