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: Repeating Actions.

Repeating Actions

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 15, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

If you want to repeat an action a single time, you can either press the F4 key or Ctrl+Y. What if you want to repeat it more than once, however? Granted, you could press these keys multiple times, but this can get tedious if you want to repeat something fifty or sixty times.

The answer is to use a nifty little macro that will do the repeating for you:

Sub DoRepeat()
    Dim CountValue As Integer
    CountValue = Val(InputBox("How many times?"))
    If CountValue > 0 Then Repeat (CountValue)
End Sub

The trick is to assign DoRepeat to a keyboard shortcut, such as Alt+R. Then, you can perform an action, press Alt+R, enter the number of times to repeat, and be on your way. You should note that if the action you did prior to invoking the macro cannot be repeated for some reason, you will get an error when the macro tries to run.

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 (9081) 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: Repeating Actions.

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...

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