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: Determining if Num Lock is On.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 6, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021
When you are creating a macro for use in Word, you may want to determine if the Num Lock key is enabled. You can figure out this information by using the Information property with the wdNumLock argument. The technique is shown in the following code:
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:
If Selection.Information(wdNumLock) Then
Print "The Num Lock key is on"
Else
Print "The Num Lock key is off"
End If
This, obviously, is not a complete macro. You would use this code within your larger macro, and then adapt it to what you need done depending on whether the NumLock key is enabled or not. The Information property returns either True or False depending on the condition of the key. This makes it very handy for using in the If ... End If construct, as shown.
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 (9196) 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: Determining if Num Lock is On.
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