Custom Text Shortcuts in Word

[Full Monty]

So the president at my company wants to be able to insert the company name, bolded and underlined, into any document via a customized keyboard shortcut.

I don't think this is possible. Anyone know of a way to do this?

Thanks.

 

[Fardringle]

I don't know about doing it with a keyboard shortcut but you can certainly use Word's AutoCorrect function to do this. Select a short "code" that won't normally be typed for anything else, such as "qqq" and set up AutoCorrect to substitute the company name any time the code is typed in a document.

In Word 2000 and 2003, open a new document and type and format the company name the way the boss wants it to appear when using the AutoCorrect macro. Then highlight the formatted text and click on the Tools menu and select AutoCorrect from the list. The AutoCorrect dialog box will open with the company name already entered in the "With:" box. Make sure the Formatted Text option is selected and then type in whatever you want to use as the trigger code in the "Replace:" box and then click the Add button to add your new macro to the list. Make sure the "Replace text as you type" box is checked and click OK to close the dialog box. To verify that you set it up properly, try typing your trigger code in a Word document and press the space bar to trigger the AutoCorrect function. Make sure that the company name shows up correctly. If it does not, go back into the AutoCorrect window, look for your new macro in the list, and edit it as needed.



I don't have access to Word 2007 so I can't verify if/how to get it to use formatted text for the AutoCorrect function, but these steps (borrowed from this site) show how to access the AutoCorrect function in Word 2007:

To customize AutoCorrect in Word 2007, follow these steps:

1. Click the Office button

2. Select Word Options

3. Click Proofing in the left pane

4. Click the AutoCorrect Options button

5. Select the AutoCorrect tab

6. In the box labeled Replace type the abbreviation

7. In the box labeled With enter the full text

8. Click Add

9. Click OK

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

The easiest way to do it like your boss is requesting is to record a macro that gets saved in his Normal.dot file. You can assign a keyboard shortcut to the macro (something like Alt+C, so it's easy to remember) and all he has to do is press that key combo. It's brainless, perfect for bosses. 😉

To record the macro, set it up first according to the instructions in Word's Help file (basically, give the macro a name and assign the keyboard shortcut). In the document, type the company name followed by a space. The space is important because it will prevent the bold and underline character formatting from be applied to the text that follows the company name. Use the left-arrow key to move the cursor to the left of the space. Now hold down Ctrl+Shift and press the left-arrow key to select the company name. Press Ctrl+B (to bold the text) and Ctrl+U (to underline).

Now click Stop Recording, and your macro is finished. Test it out by typing text and pressing the keyboard combo to insert the company name.

If you have any questions or need clarification, don't hesitate. Hope it works out like you want it.