I'm trying to record a macro in Word 365. But for several actions, I use a mouse to click buttons, which can be a problem if the button is not in a default location. I'd like to use keys or key combinations instead of mouse clicks. Some Word buttons underscore a letter on the key name to show what to use, but many don't.

Is there a way to find out what key combinations work for Word buttons?

Have you actually looked at the code produced when you record yourself clicking on the buttons? Word will record the command (not the screen location) so you don't need to know the keyboard shortcut.

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Andrew Lockton
Chrysalis Design, Melbourne Australia

Are you using ActiveX buttons or referring to the buttons/icons on the Ribbon tab or QAT as buttons?

Pressing then releasing the Alt key, by itself, should show screentips showing the next key to press to get to one of those. If it does not, please write back.

Resources:

• Create a List of Keyboard Shortcuts in Microsoft Word
• Assigning Keyboard Shortcuts in Microsoft Word 2007-2021 (365)

Thanks, Charles and Andrew. I've encountered a more fundamental problem, it seems. I tried to create a macro I called Test1 to simply open the Styles dialog. While the macro was recording, I opened Home, then clicked the arrow in Styles to open the dialog. Then I stopped recording. The macro that appeared in VBA looks like this:

Sub Test1()
'
'Test1 Macro
'
'
End Sub

So no commands were recorded. When I closed the Styles dialog, then tried to run the macro, nothing happened.

I suspect there's a problem with dialogs and VBA. Any ideas on why this didn't record?

To display the Styles pane with VBA, you can use the following line of code:

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

You can also use Ctrl+Shift+Alt+S.

As Charles pointed out, using the built-in shortcuts is easier. Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S displays the Styles pane, and Ctrl+Shift+S displays the Apply Styles pane.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

This is how it works (or does not work). There are a number of things that the recorder will not pick up. Even those it does pick up often create poor coding.


See How to Modify a Recorded Macro by Jay Freedman.