Invisible Macros

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 24, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Do you like to customize Word by adding macros to different menu and toolbar options? If so, you may have noticed that you can't always find your macros when you try to attach one to a menu in the Customize dialog box. The macro may be visible in the macros list when you press Alt+F8, but not in the Customize dialog box.

The most likely cause of this problem is that the macro is not saved in the Normal.dot template but in some other template. It would be visible in the regular macros list because all the "reachable" macros are listed there, by default. It would not be visible in the Customize dialog box because only the macros in Normal.Dot are visible there, by default.

To get around this problem, there are two possible solutions. First, the macro can be moved to the Normal.Dot template file using the Organizer feature of Word. (You get there by clicking on Organizer from the Macro dialog box.) The second solution is to make sure your menu customization is saved in the same template in which the desired macro is saved. You do that by following these steps:

Choose Customize from the Tools menu. This displays the Customize dialog box.
Click on the Commands tab. (See Figure 1.)

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

In the Categories list, choose Macros. The right side of the dialog box should list the macros available.
If the macro you desire is not visible, use the Save In drop-down list to select a different template file. You should select the one you know your desired macro is saved in.
Make your menu changes as desired.

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 (1911) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Using the SYMBOL Field

The most common way of adding symbols to a document is to use the Symbol dialog box. There is another way, however, that ...

Discover More

Understanding the For ... Next Structure

Part of the power of VBA is being able to control when some of your code executes and when it doesn't. A primary way to ...

Discover More

Widening Multiple Columns Proportionally

It is easy to adjust the width of columns in Excel. It is much harder to adjust the width of a range of columns ...

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)

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

Toggling Font Assignments in a Macro

If you need to quickly switch a text selection from one typeface to another, one way you can do it is with a macro. This ...

Discover More

Changing What Is Pasted in a Dialog Box

When you record a macro, Word very literally records what you do. This includes filling in various settings in dialog ...

Discover More

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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 6 + 6?

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.