Quickly Changing Document Windows

Summary: Word provides a keyboard shortcut that you can use to cycle through document windows, but no way to do it using the mouse. You can get around this shortcoming by using the macro provided in this tip. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, and Word 2003.)

If you routinely use several open documents to do you work, you already know that you can change between document windows by choosing the document name from the Window menu. You may not know, however, that there is a shortcut for changing windows. You can cycle through your documents by pressing either Ctrl+F6 or Shift+Ctrl+F6. The difference is that Ctrl+F6 cycles through the list of windows in a forwards direction, while Shift+Ctrl+F6.

If you would rather not take your hands off the mouse, you can create a macro that cycles through the windows. This macro can then be assigned to a button on one of your toolbars. The following macro will cycle forwards through the windows:

Sub ChangeWin()
    On Error GoTo ChangeWinErr
    Set bb = ActiveWindow.Next
    If Windows.Count > 1 Then
        bb.Activate
        Exit Sub
    End If
    ChangeWinErr:
        Windows(1).Activate
End Sub

Tip #967 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

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