Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Finding and Changing Word's Internal Commands.

Finding and Changing Word's Internal Commands

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 6, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

When you are developing macros, you may want to replace one of the built-in commands used by Word with your own macro code. In order to do this, you must find out the name used by Word to refer to the built-in commands. You can do so by following these steps:

Display the Developer tab of the ribbon.
Click the Macros tool, in the Code group. Word displays the Macros dialog box.
Using the Macros In drop-down list, select Word Commands. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Macros dialog box.

Using the command list, locate and select the command you want to edit. Once selected, the name should appear not only in the list of commands, but also in the Macro Name box at the top of the dialog box.

Now, if you want to change the command, continue on with the rest of these steps:

Using the Macros In drop-down list (the same one you used in step 3), select where you want your edited command saved. The command name (the one you selected in step 4) should still appear in the Macro Name box at the top of the dialog box.
Click on Create. Word starts the VBA Editor and shows the program instructions that make up the built-in command.
Make your changes to the command.
Close the Editor window by clicking on the Close icon in the upper-right corner of the window.
Save your changes, if prompted.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8027) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Finding and Changing Word's Internal Commands.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Deleting a Bookmark

Create a bookmark and you may, at some future point, need to delete that bookmark. It's easy to do, as described in this tip.

Discover More

Easy Value Hiding

Want a quick and easy way to hide the information in a cell? You can do it with a simple three-character custom format.

Discover More

Storing Sorting Criteria

Need to do the same sorting operation over and over again? Excel doesn't provide a way to save your sorting criteria, but ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Hiding Macros

Don't want a particular macro to be visible in the Macros dialog box? Once you understand the criteria that Word uses ...

Discover More

Finding a Change in Typeface

When you format a document, you can go so far as to change the font of each character in the document. This may be ...

Discover More

Modifying Behavior of the Open Dialog Box

The Open dialog box is one that few of us think about, but you can control how it behaves with a little bit of macro ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is seven less than 7?

2021-11-07 06:07:12

Kiwerry

Interesting, thanks Allen
Unfortunately not available in the other Office components - or, at least, not accessible using the method.

2021-11-07 05:40:35

Doug B

I'm wondering if you change a built-in Word command, do you not run the risk of your work being overwritten during future Word updates?

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.