{"id":5201,"date":"2015-08-31T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-31T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americaneditor.wordpress.com\/?p=5201"},"modified":"2016-09-19T19:10:29","modified_gmt":"2016-09-20T01:10:29","slug":"lyonizing-word-assigning-macro-shortcut-keys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/editorium.com\/archive\/lyonizing-word-assigning-macro-shortcut-keys\/","title":{"rendered":"Lyonizing Word: Assigning Macro Shortcut Keys"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Jack Lyon<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I recently had the pleasure of doing an interview<\/a> for the Chicago Manual of Style<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u201cShop Talk\u201d column. In the interview, I explained how to record a simple macro for transposing characters while editing.<\/p>\n

After reading the interview, editor Kristi Hein commented:<\/p>\n

Terrific. Next, please discuss the process of choosing a keystroke combination for your macro: not using one of the many you\u2019ve already assigned, making it a combo that\u2019s not too convoluted for the hands (defeating the purpose somewhat), and that you will remember among all the other keystroke combinations you\u2019ve assigned. Therein <\/em>lies the true art of automating Word effectively and efficiently.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Kristi is right, but wow, that\u2019s a tall order. Let\u2019s look at each requirement separately.<\/p>\n

Not using one of the many we\u2019ve already assigned<\/h4>\n

To\u00a0not use one of the many keyboard combinations already assigned,\u00a0we need to know <\/em>the keystroke combinations we\u2019ve already assigned. Here\u2019s how to do that:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Click CTRL + P to open Word\u2019s \u201cPrint\u201d dialog.<\/li>\n
  2. Under \u201cSettings,\u201d click the dropdown list that begins with \u201cPrint All Pages.\u201d<\/li>\n
  3. Under \u201cDocument Properties,\u201d click \u201cKey Assignments.\u201d (Also, notice the other things you might want to print, such as styles and AutoText entries.)<\/li>\n
  4. Click the \u201cPrint\u201d button.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    You\u2019ll get a nicely formatted document that shows all of your existing key combinations. The entries will look something like this, with the key combinations on the left and the macro names on the right:<\/p>\n

    Alt+Ctrl+Shift+S \u2014 Normal.NewMacros.ChangeStyleBasedOn
    \nAlt+Ctrl+Shift+I \u2014 Normal.NewMacros.CheckIndexCodes
    \nAlt+Ctrl+Shift+C \u2014 Normal.NewMacros.FixCodes
    \nAlt+Ctrl+Shift+M \u2014 Normal.NewMacros.ParseMetadata<\/p>\n

    \u201cAnd how do I assign key combinations to begin with?\u201d you\u2019re wondering. There are (at least) a couple of ways:<\/p>\n

    When you go to record a new macro (under View > Macro), one of your options is to assign a key combination by pressing the \u201cKeyboard\u201d button:<\/p>\n

    \"Using<\/a>

    Using the keyboard option<\/p><\/div>\n

    When you do that, you\u2019ll see the following dialog:<\/p>\n

    \"The<\/a>

    The dialog for entering the key combination<\/p><\/div>\n

    If you were working with an existing macro (editing rather than recording), you\u2019d see any existing key combinations under \u201cCurrent keys.\u201d To assign a new combination, put your cursor in the box labeled \u201cPress new shortcut key\u201d and, well, press a new shortcut key.<\/p>\n

    If the new key is already assigned to a macro, you\u2019ll get a \u201cCurrently assigned to\u201d message like this:<\/p>\n

    \"Currently<\/a>

    Currently assigned message<\/p><\/div>\n

    That\u2019s handy because it helps you avoid accidentally overwriting a combination that you\u2019ve already assigned (although you can <\/em>overwrite one on purpose). If you don\u2019t get that message, you\u2019re good to go, and you can click the \u201cAssign\u201d button (on the lower left) and then the \u201cClose\u201d button (on the lower right) and then record the keystrokes that will make up your macro. (When you\u2019re finished recording, click View > Macro > Stop Recording.)<\/p>\n

    If you want to assign a key combination to an existing<\/em> macro, things get a little more complicated:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Click \u201cFile > Options.\u201d<\/li>\n
    2. Click the \u201cCustomize Ribbon\u201d button (on the left).<\/li>\n
    3. Under \u201cChoose commands from,\u201d select \u201cMacros\u201d (unless you want to use one of Word\u2019s built-in commands, which you can also do).<\/li>\n
    4. At the bottom of the dialog, you\u2019ll see \u201cKeyboard shortcuts: Customize.\u201d Click the \u201cCustomize\u201d button and proceed as explained above.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \"Customizing\"<\/a>

      Customizing<\/p><\/div>\n

      But to continue\u2026<\/p>\n

      Making it a combo that\u2019s not too convoluted for the hands<\/h4>\n

      This, of course, depends on how many fingers you have (I have ten so far) and how large or small they are, along with your native dexterity. As you can see in the picture above, I\u2019m partial to ALT + CTRL + SHIFT, which I actually find easy to press with my left hand while pressing a letter key with my right. If that\u2019s too convoluted for you, you might try CTRL + SHIFT or CTRL + ALT, both of which are easy to do. ALT + SHIFT is a little more difficult. You can even use plain old CTRL or ALT with another character, but that starts to encroach on Word\u2019s built-in key combinations (like CTRL + S to save a document).<\/p>\n

      There\u2019s another system, however, that you may not know about:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Press your desired key combination.<\/li>\n
      2. Press another <\/em>key.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        The result will be something like this:<\/p>\n

        \"Two-step<\/a>

        Two-step key<\/p><\/div>\n

        See that ,\u201d1\u201d after the \u201cAlt+Ctrl+Shift+M\u201d? That means I\u2019ve just created a two-step <\/em>key combination. To run the macro, I press ALT+CTRL+SHIFT+M. Then <\/em>I press 1 (the one key, all by itself). At that point (and not before), the macro will run. Pretty slick!<\/p>\n

        What that means is that you can assign all kinds of two-step combinations (letters will work as well as numbers), which gives you two <\/em>characters for the mnemonic you use to remember what a combination does. That\u2019s twice as good as one! (Unfortunately, Word won\u2019t let you use more than two.) It also means you can create shortcuts like these:<\/p>\n

        ALT+CTRL+SHIFT+H,1 (to apply the Heading 1 style)ALT+CTRL+SHIFT+H,2 (to apply the Heading 2 style)<\/p>\n

        Or these:<\/p>\n

        CTRL + SHIFT + T,C (to transpose characters)
        \nCTRL + SHIFT + T,W (to transpose words)
        \nCTRL + SHIFT + T,S (to transpose sentences)
        \nCTRL + SHIFT + T,P (to transpose paragraphs)<\/p>\n

        And so on. The mind reels at the possibilities!<\/p>\n

        Making it a combo that you will remember among all the other keystroke combinations you\u2019ve assigned<\/h4>\n

        Using two-step combinations should help with that requirement as well, but for serious keyboard junkies there\u2019s another solution \u2014 XKeys.<\/a>\u00a0The company manufactures various models, from 24 keys on up to 128 keys! You can assign the keys to your macros, label the keys, color code them, and so on. The 60-key model looks like this:<\/p>\n

        \"The<\/a>

        The 60-key XKeys<\/p><\/div>\n

        Rich Adin swears by this gadget, and he\u2019s one of the most productive copyeditors I know. Maybe you\u2019d find it useful too.<\/p>\n

        We've met the requirements<\/h4>\n

        In summary, we\u2019ve figured out some ways to meet all of Kristi Hein\u2019s requirements for key combinations:<\/p>\n