Creating a Lorem Ipsum Tool

Charles created a macro to insert lorem ipsum text in a document. He turned on the macro recorder, typed =lorem(), and then pressed Enter. This, of course, inserted the lorem ipsum text. He placed a shortcut to the macro on the Quick Access Toolbar, but the recorded macro only partially works. It types =lorem() for him, but he still needs to manually press Enter. Charles has tried to edit the macro to have it include the Enter command so that when he clicks on the macro shortcut the text gets entered, but to no avail.

If you want your macro to simulate pressing Enter, then you'll need to use the SendKeys command. Chances are good that when you recorded your macro, it looks very similar to this:

Sub Macro1()
'
' Macro1 Macro
'
'
    Selection.TypeText Text:="=lorem()"
    Selection.TypeParagraph
End Sub

What you need to do is to replace the last line of the macro (the one just before End Sub) to either of the following:

    SendKeys "~", True
    SendKeys "{ENTER}", False

Either of these lines (you only need one of them) will simulate pressing Enter. There is one gotcha to be aware of, however—SendKeys works in whatever window is currently active. This means you cannot run the macro from within the Visual Basic Editor and get the desired effect. The reason is because when you do that, it is the window in the Editor that is active, so SendKeys "presses Enter" within that window. You should only run the macro when your Word document window is active.

That being said, there is another way you could approach the macro, without using the SendKeys command. All you need to do is to create a new Word document that contains your lorem ipsum text, followed by whatever you want. Name this something unique, such as LoremText.docx. Then, create a macro like this one:

Sub Lorem()
    Selection.InsertFile FileName:="C:\Users\User\Desktop\LoremText.docx"
End Sub

You just need to make sure that the path and filename shown in the macro represents the actual path and filename appropriate for your system. When you run the macro, Word goes out and grabs the LoremText.docx document and inserts it at the insertion point.

Finally, there is another way you could approach this issue without the need of resorting to macros. You could, if desired, insert the lorem ipsum text into your document, select it, and save it as a Building Block or as an AutoCorrect entry. You can then easily insert the text—modified in whatever way you desire—using these Word tools. (How to create and use both Building Blocks and AutoCorrect entries has been covered in other WordTips.)

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13484) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021.