Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Displaying Shortcut Keys in ScreenTips.

Displaying Shortcut Keys in ScreenTips

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 4, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

If you find it helpful, you can make Word include shortcut keys in any ScreenTips that it displays. (ScreenTips normally appear when you position the mouse over a toolbar button. They give a short hint about what the button does.) For instance, when you position the mouse over the Bold tool (on the Formatting toolbar), the ScreenTip normally says "Bold." However, you can cause Word to instead display "Bold (Ctrl+B)."

If you would find this helpful, follow these steps:

Choose the Customize option from the Tools menu. Word displays the Customize dialog box.
Click on the Options tab. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Options tab of the Customize dialog box.

Make sure the Show Shortcut Keys in ScreenTips option is selected.
Click on Close.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (646) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Displaying Shortcut Keys in ScreenTips.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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