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

Changing Color in WordArt

You can make your document flashier by using WordArt to punch it up. Here's how you can change the color of the text in ...

Discover More

Displaying a Chart Legend

A legend can help explain the various lines or objects visible in a chart. Microsoft Chart allows you to turn on or off ...

Discover More

Replacing Text with a Graphic

The Find and Replace feature in Word provides you with some powerful tools you can use to process a document. One such ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Printing via Macro without Messages

When you are printing a document, it is not unusual to see messages (dialog boxes) periodically. When you want the ...

Discover More

Quickly Dumping Array Contents

If you store information within a variable array, at some point in your macro you may want to get rid of that ...

Discover More

Finding Long Lines

Word is very dynamic in how it "flows" text from one line to another and one page to another. In most cases we are ...

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 two minus 0?

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.