how to sync all keyboard shortcuts via dropbox?

[dylansmith]

as above - i use 3-4 different PCs at different times of the day and occasionally add shortcuts to help simplify my workflow. however, having to repeat the same thing for 4x is a pain.

is there any way that I can set it up such that the keyboard shortcuts (possibly with word styles/themes/general settings) sync across all my computers with the help of dropbox?

i've heard of using symlink before, but it seems to be complicated, given that i don't know where all the individual settings would be.

All suggestions are welcome!

TIA!

[Stefan Blom]

One possibility would be adding the keyboard shortcuts to a template which you then add to the Startup folder of all of your installations.

[dylansmith]

Hi,

how do i do that?

also, is it possible to 'merge' all the settings into one file so i get exactly the same settings/themes on all computers?

[Stefan Blom]

Use the "Save in" box in the Customize Keyboard dialog box to specify a particular template, which must be open when you assign the shortcuts.

Then copy the template to Word's Startup folder (the exact path can be found at File tab | Options | Advanced | File Locations). Note that this must be done manually for all of your computers.

[dylansmith]

just curious - is there a 'default' settings file that contains all the customizations made in Word 2010? If so, what is the directory i should look at?

(not referring to the export/import file function, i just want to know where is the default settings file)

[Stefan Blom]

It's different for different kinds of customizations. For example, buttons added to the Quick Access Toolbar are stored in a *.qat file. But macros, Building Blocks, and keyboard shortcuts are stored in templates.

[dylansmith]

hmm, i just need the directory for the quick access toolbar and keyboard shortcut customizations. can't seem to find them in the default Word 2010 installation folder :/

[Stefan Blom]

Typically, the files you are looking for are in the user profile for each user.

For example, there is a user templates folder whose exact location is specified in the File Locations dialog box. Usually, that means the %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates folder, unless a different location has been specified in the File Locations dialog box.

Add-ins will be in the Startup folder for your Word installation.

[Stefan Blom]

I mentioned the Word.qat file earlier, but starting with Word 2010 the Quick Access Toolbar customizations is in the Word.officeUI file.

[dylansmith]

i went to the directory that you suggested and searched for "officeui" but couldn't find anything.

as for the keyboard customizations, do you mean they are embedded in the normal.dotm template or? otherwise, i couldn't find them as well.

[Stefan Blom]

On my system, the path is C:\Users\User_Name_Here\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Of fice. Also, note that officeUI is the filename extension. If you don't have those displayed, you will only see the filename Word.

And, yes, many customizations are stored internally with the Normal template. Keyboard shortcuts belong to that category. You can see them in the Customize Keyboard dialog box.