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: Removing a Macro from a Shortcut Key.

Removing a Macro from a Shortcut Key

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated November 6, 2020)

You can customize Word quite a bit, just by assigning your various macros to different shortcut key combinations. Press the shortcut key, and viola—the macro is executed post haste.

At some point, however, you may want to remove the association between the shortcut key and the macro. In order to do this, follow these steps:

Select Customize from the Tools menu. You will see the Customize dialog box.
Click on the Keyboard button. Word displays the Customize Keyboard dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Customize Keyboard dialog box.

Scroll through the Categories list and select the Macros category. The list at the right side of the dialog box changes to show the currently available macros.
In the Macros list, select the macro you want to affect. Word should display, in the Current Keys box, the list of current shortcut key assignments for the macro.
Select the key assignment you want to remove.
Click on Remove.
Repeat steps 4 through 6 for each change you want to make.
Click on Close.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1490) 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: Removing a Macro from a Shortcut Key.

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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