Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. 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: Jumping to the End of a Word.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 8, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365
Lori wonders if there is a keyboard shortcut to jump to the end of a word. She knows that Ctrl+Right Arrow jumps to the beginning of the next word, but she'd like to jump to the end of the next word, prior to any punctuation or spaces.
There is no built-in shortcut to do this. The only way it can be done is with a macro that could then be assigned to a shortcut key. You might think that you could simply record a macro that would move to the beginning of the next word (by pressing Ctrl+Right Arrow) and then back up one character (by pressing Left Arrow). This won't work, however, because the Ctrl+Right Arrow actually moves to the beginning of the next word or to the left of the next punctuation mark, whichever comes first. Thus, if the shortcut key moved to the left of a period (for example) at the end of a sentence, then moving one character to the left would put you within the word instead of at the end of the word.
So, your macro needs to actually evaluate what is to the left of the insertion point after using the Ctrl+Right Arrow. The following does just that:
Sub MoveToEndOfWord1() Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdWord, Count:=1 Selection.MoveLeft Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1 If Selection.Text <> " " Then Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1 End If End Sub
The only caveat for the macro is that you need to run it from within a word. If you are already at the end of a word, it does absolutely nothing. If you want a macro that will work from the end of a word, as well, then you need to modify it a bit:
Sub MoveToEndOfWord2() If Selection.Text = " " Then Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdWord, Count:=1 End If Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdWord, Count:=1 Selection.MoveLeft Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1 If Selection.Text <> " " Then Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1 End If End Sub
Note:
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8336) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Jumping to the End of a Word.
Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!
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