Assigning a Macro to a Shortcut Key

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 3, 2023)

Word allows you to assign macros or commands to specific key combinations. These key combinations are referred to as shortcut keys, and when used they result in the macro or command being executed. When you first create a macro by recording it, Word gives you the opportunity to assign the macro to a specific key combination. If you later want to change the key combination, you can follow these steps:

Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 or a later version, display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
At the left side of the dialog box, click Customize (Word 2007) or Customize Ribbon (Word 2010 or later).
Near the bottom of the dialog box, click the Customize button. Word displays the Customize Keyboard dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Customize Keyboard dialog box.

Scroll through the Categories list and select the Macros category. The list at the right side of the dialog box changes to show the currently available macros.
In the Macros list, select the macro you want assigned to the shortcut key.
With the insertion point in the Press New Shortcut Key box, press the shortcut key you want to use. For instance, if you want to use Ctrl+Alt+J, press that.
Just below the Current Keys box you can see whether the shortcut key is already assigned to a different function.
Click on Assign.
Repeat steps 5 through 8 for each change you want to make.
Click on Close.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8058) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021.

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

Turning Off Automatic Captioning

Word can be configured so that it automatically adds captions to some of your design elements (tables, figures, etc.). ...

Discover More

Adding Hyperlinks

Adding a hyperlink to a text selection is easy to do in Word. All you need to do is make a couple of clicks and specify ...

Discover More

Creating a Spelling Exclusion List

Don't like it when Word always says a word is spelled right and you know that it isn't? Here's how you can fine-tune the ...

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)

Writing a Macro from Scratch

Creating macros can help extend what you can do in Word. If you work with macros, you know that creating macros from ...

Discover More

Repaginating in a Macro

When creating a macro that extensively processes a document, you may need to periodically force Word to repaginate the ...

Discover More

Using Message Boxes

If your macro needs to communicate with a user, one simple way to do it is to use a message box. Here's how to use this ...

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 three less than 4?

2025-10-30 15:08:27

Yan

This helped! Thanks!

2024-08-08 11:54:54

Timothy J. McGowan

@Rachel:

You can make all your shortcuts two-keyers. (I'm obviously lacking the technical term.)

For example, in default installations of Word, you can press Ctrl+/ and then C to insert a ¢ symbol.

We can do the same thing ourselves. For your XRHand macro, you could assign it Ctrl+Shift+X,H. You could assign your XRChest macro Ctrl+Shift+X,C.

You can use any combination of Ctrl or Alt, with or without Shift, or all three, plus a key for the first stroke. The second stroke cannot accept Ctrl or Alt but it can accept a Shift key to double your options.

The characters on the Number Pad are not the same as their counterparts on the main keyboard, so Ctrl+NumPad5 is not the same as Ctrl+5 and Alt+NumPad* is not the same as Alt+*.

Options for the first stroke: Alt+key, Ctrl+key, Alt+Ctrl+key, Shift+Alt+key, Shift+Ctrl+key, or Shift+Alt+Ctrl+key. (The Windows key is not an option.)

Options for the second stroke: key, Shift+key.

Remember that you're not tied to printable characters; you can also use the direction keys; Insert, Home, etc.; Backspace and Enter; and the F keys.

You can use the Print Screen, Scroll Lock, and Pause/Break keys as well, but I'd avoid them, as they can sometimes have systemwide effects and they don't always accept all combinations of Ctrl, Alt, and Shift.

Obviously, Ctrl+Alt+Delete isn't available. Assign macros to common shortcuts, such as Ctrl+P or Ctrl+C, at your own risk.

2024-07-26 17:32:02

Rebecca

I have more macros than available shortcut keys (hundreds of them!) - is there a way to assign them differently ie I want to populate a chest x-ray macro can I assign as XRCHEST or a hand x-ray as XRHAND etc?

2024-02-17 08:47:46

Lenny

I appreciate your articles!

2023-11-05 22:19:13

Lenny

Thanks!
Great info (as always!)
Lenny

2020-11-24 23:30:01

Mario

Re Items 1. to 3.:
In Word365 for Mac delete all and replace with:
Go to Tools/Customize Keyboard

2020-02-16 20:33:02

mauro

In the categories list, why do you think the Micro$oft programmers included hundreds of categories in random order, rather than say alphabetical order which might make them easier to find?

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.