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: Assigning a Macro to a Button in Your Text.

Assigning a Macro to a Button in Your Text

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 23, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


You already know you can assign a macro to a button (a tool) on your toolbar. Word also allows you to add buttons within the text of you document. These buttons have a macro or a Word command assigned to them, and you can control what happens when the button is selected in text. This is all instituted through the use of a field code. It may be a bit of a misnomer to refer to the result of this field code as a "button," because no graphics are involved whatsoever, although you can create your own graphic and embed it into the field. The syntax for the field code is:

MacroButton MacroName Display

MacroName is the name of the macro or command you want to run, and Display is the text you want displayed by the field code. If you use a graphic instead of text, then the graphic is displayed. When a user double-clicks on the displayed text or graphic, then the macro or command defined by MacroName is executed.

To assign a command or macro to a button, and insert that button in your text, follow these steps:

  1. Position the insertion point where you want the button to appear.
  2. Press Ctrl+F9 to insert a field.
  3. Between the field brackets, type MacroButton, then the name of the command or macro you want the button to execute.
  4. Type the text you want displayed, or insert a graphic to be used as a button.
  5. Press F9 to update the field display.

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 (1571) 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: Assigning a Macro to a Button in Your Text.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Shortcut for Selecting a Data Range

Want to select all the data in a contiguous section of a worksheet? The shortcut discussed in this tip makes it very easy.

Discover More

Adjusting Formulas when Pasting

The Paste Special feature in Excel can be used to uniformly adjust values and formulas. This tip shows how powerful this ...

Discover More

Excluding Zero Values from a PivotTable

If you are using a data set that includes a number of zero values, you may not want those values to appear in a ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Calculating a Future Date

Need to figure out a date a certain number of days, weeks, months, or years in the future? It's easy to do using the ...

Discover More

Highlight Words from a Word List

Do you need to highlight certain words in a document, and aren't quite sure how to go about it? Using the techniques ...

Discover More

Renaming a File

Need to rename a disk file from within a macro? You can do it using the Name command, described in this tip.

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 5 - 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.