Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 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: Displaying Shortcut Keys in ScreenTips.

Displaying Shortcut Keys in ScreenTips

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated April 20, 2020)

If you find it helpful, you can make Word include shortcut keys in any ScreenTips that it displays. (ScreenTips normally appear when you position the mouse over a toolbar button. They give a short hint about what the button does.) For instance, when you position the mouse over the Bold tool (on the Home tab of the ribbon), the ScreenTip normally says "Bold." However, you can cause Word to instead display "Bold (Ctrl+B)."

If you would find this helpful, follow these steps:

Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 and later versions, display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
Click the Advanced option at the left of the dialog box.
Scroll through the options until you see the Display section. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Advanced options of the Word Options dialog box.

Make sure the Show Shortcut Keys in ScreenTips option is selected.
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 (13238) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Displaying Shortcut Keys in ScreenTips.

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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