Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 26, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016
Word allows you to customize its interface to meet your needs and expectations in using the program. One of the things you can customize is the assignment of shortcut keys. Word comes with a pre-defined set of shortcut key assignments that you can use to accomplish specific tasks or to apply different editing and formatting features. You can customize these shortcut keys, as desired.
At some point you may want to reset the formatting of your shortcut keys. To do this, follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Customize Keyboard dialog box.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6093) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Resetting All Shortcut Keys.
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Need to get rid of a keyboard shortcut key you previously defined? It's easy to do if you follow these steps.
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2021-11-06 12:26:02
Kario
it doesn't work!
2019-02-18 06:01:53
Arnoud van den Eerenbeemt
The Ctrl+function keys assigned to my favorite Outlook mail categories are behaving erratically since a few days. I want to reset them, however without removing my dozens of key assignments for writing mails and Word documents too. I have restarted Outlook with outlook.exe /cleancategories, but the key assignments are still not working. Could you possibly tell me how I remove these few and specific assignments only: through the registry? Thanks!
2017-02-18 10:34:21
Mitch
I was wondering if this "tip" also addresses any changes to the "Office Access Keys". I made the mistake of modifying the key combination of [Alt + O] not remembering or realizing at the time that I use it for essentially opening the ribbon controls. For example, I would use [Alt + O] then "p" to take me directly to the formatting of a paragraph or [Alt +O] then "f" to take me directly to the formatting of fonts.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated. It's making me a little crazy to have to work around these keystrokes that I've automatically used for years.
Thanks.
2016-12-21 21:34:13
EJ
thanks man. this works!!
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