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Microsoft Word

Customize keyboard shortcuts

Learn how to assign keyboard shortcuts to macros, styles, fonts, building blocks, and symbols.

To customize your keyboard shortcuts, choose File > Options to open the “Word Options” dialog box, and click Customize Ribbon from the left pane then click the Customize button beside Keyboard shortcuts from the right pane to open the “Customize Keyboard” dialog box.

  1. In the “Save changes in” drop-down list in the Customize Keyboard dialog box, make sure the appropriate template or document is selected. For example, select Normal.dot if you want to affect your Normal template and all documents based on it.
  2. To add a keyboard shortcut, click the appropriate category (for example, File Tab) in the Categories listbox
  3. And then select the command in the Commands list.
  4. Click in the “Press new keyboard shortcut” box, and then press the shortcut you want to use.
  5. Check the “Currently assigned to” readout to see if the shortcut is already assigned to a command; if so, decide whether to overwrite it or try another shortcut.
  6. Click the Assign button to assign the new shortcut.
  7. To remove a keyboard shortcut:
    • Click the category
    • Select the command
    • Click the shortcut in the “Current keys” list
    • Click the Remove button.

When you’ve finished customizing shortcuts, close the Customize Keyboard dialog box and the “Word Options” dialog box. Click the File tab, choose Save, and save your changes to the document or template if Word prompts you to do so.

Useful Navigation Keyboard Shortcuts

The following list shows the keyboard shortcuts for you to quickly navigate around the documents:

  • Ctrl + →
    Press “Ctrl + Right arrow key” to move one word to the right, or to the end of the current word.
  • Ctrl + ←
    Press “Ctrl + Left arrow key” to move one word to the left, or to the start of the current word.
  • Ctrl + ↑
    Press “Ctrl + Up arrow key” to move the beginning of the current paragraph (if the insertion point is in it) or the beginning of the previous paragraph.
  • Ctrl + ↓
    Press “Ctrl + Down arrow key” to move the beginning of the next paragraph.
  • Ctrl + Home
    To move the beginning of the document, text box, or other things (for example, a header).
  • Ctrl + End
    To move the end of the document or text box.

Note: You can use the above keyboard shortcuts to select text in the document. If you want to select text, hold down the Shift key while you press the keyboard shortcut.