Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, 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 Caps Lock is On.

Determining if Caps Lock is On

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 7, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021


1

When you are creating a macro, you may have a need to know if the Caps Lock key is engaged. (For instance, you may want to warn a user to turn the Caps Lock key off.) If you have this need, the following VBA macro code determines the status of the Caps Lock key, and warns you accordingly:

If Selection.Information(wdCapsLock) Then
    MsgBox "The Caps Lock key is on"
Else
    MsgBox "The Caps Lock key is off"
End If

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 (11995) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Determining if Caps Lock is On.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Finding Long Lines

Word is very dynamic in how it "flows" text from one line to another and one page to another. In most cases we are ...

Discover More

Getting Rid of Numbered Columns

Excel normally refers to columns as A, B, C, etc. It also has a referencing format that allows columns to be referred to ...

Discover More

Changing Multiple Cells at Once

Excel includes several different methods of editing information in your cells. If you want to edit multiple cells all at ...

Discover More

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!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Swapping Two Numbers

When developing a macro, you may need to swap the values in two variables. It's simple to do using the technique in this tip.

Discover More

Understanding Functions

Do some macro programming in VBA and you'll quickly find out that you can use functions to extend the power and ...

Discover More

Controlling Repagination in Macros

Want to turn off document repagination while your macro does its work? Here are two approaches you can use.

Discover More
Subscribe

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.

What is 2 + 2?

2023-10-08 01:14:46

Tomek

I apologize for this comment being tangential to the tip, but I hope someone may find it useful.

It is very rare that I would need Caps Lock. Most of the time in the past I had had it on, was by mistakenly hitting the caps lock key. So I disabled it. There are two way to do that:
1: Create an entry in Registry Editor (search on Internet how to do this). This will result in permanently disabled Caps Lock or at least until you change the registry back to original.
2: Pop up the caps lock key. Yes, mechanically remove it. It can be done on most keyboards. The benefit is that you can still activate Caps Lock by pushing what was under the key using a pencil or another thin object, sometimes your pinkie will work too. Then you can deactivate it when no longer needed. But you won't turn it on inadvertently.


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.

Videos
Subscribe

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

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.