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| | Taming the Highly Intelligent Beast Microsoft Word provides a way for you to customize keyboard commands. (Check Help for doing this . . . different incarnations of Word do this differently.) Here's a few ideas for changes: MOVEMENT COMMENDS Hotkey | Word Command | Description | Mnemonic | Ctrl+e | LineUp | Moves text cursor one line up | Spatial - top of diamond | Ctrl+x | LineDown | Moves text cursor one line down | Spatial - bottom of diamond | Ctrl+d | CharRight | Moves text cursor one character to the right | Spatial - right of diamond | Ctrl+s | CharLeft | Moves text cursor one character to the left | Spatial - left of diamond | Ctrl+a | WordLeft | Moves text cursor one word to the left | Spatial - further left, magnified | Ctrl+f | WordRight | Moves text cursor one word to the right | Spatial - further right, magnified | Ctrl+q | StartOfLine | Moves text cursor to beginning of line | Spatial - above a | Ctrl+w | EndOfLine | Moves text cursor to end of line | Spatial - to right of q | Ctrl+u | StartOfDocument | Moves text cursor to the beginning of current document | u for up | Ctrl+j | EndOfDocument | Moves text cursor to the end of current document | j like an arrow pointing down | Ctrl+Home | EditGoTo | Bring up the menu to go to a specific page | h for home, your destination |
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If you’re adventurous (i.e. reckless) as I am, you might consider assigning: Hotkey | Word Command | Description | Mnemonic | Ctrl+r | PageUp | Moves text cursor one page up | Spatial - r to right of e, magnified | Ctrl+c | PageDown | Moves text cursor one page down | Spatial - c to right of x, magnified |
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The problem with this is Ctrl+c is the universal Windows command for Copy. If you do this you need to find another shortcut key for that operation and, more difficult, remember it. See below under Editing Commands, under optional. (On the positive side, you’ll find the new Ctrl+c is useful and convenient in Word’s Reading Layout, under View. I’ve discovered that on my light-weight Thinkpad I can easily read books I’ve scanned. I just finished a biography of Chopin that way. My current recommendation for A Poet’s Laptop is the Lenovo Thinkpad X60.) More info. EDITING COMMANDS Hotkey | Word Command | Description | Mnemonic | Ctrl+g | (Delete) | Deletes one character to the right of cursor. This can't be directly assigned. Create a macro first with Word's Create Macro feature. Name the macro Delete. Then assign that macro to Ctrl+g. | Deletes the character to the right of your text cursor | Ctrl+t | DeleteWord | Deletes the word that your cursor is resting on anywhere in that word | Spatial - above g, magnified | Ctrl+y | (DeleteLine) | Deletes all characters in a line to the right of the cursor. This can't be directly assigned. Create a macro first with Word's Create Macro feature. Name the macro Delete. Then assign that macro to Ctrl+y. | Spatial - right of t, magnified |
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Hotkey | Word Command | Description | Mnemonic | Ctrl+b | ExtendSelection | Turns on Blocking mode so you can select text by the keyboard rather than your mouse | b for block |
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Hotkey | Word Command | Description | Mnemonic | Ctrl+i | EditFind | Brings up the Find box | i for investigate | Ctrl+l | RepeatFind | When you exit the Find box (usually by Esc), you can find the next instance of what you entered by pressing Ctrl+l (handy for moving quickly through long text) | l for look | Ctrl+k | (search up) | Opposite of Ctrl+l - looks backwards through the text each time you press it | k for back |
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The next is optional (mainly for those who have reassigned Ctrl+c and Ctrl+x). Hotkey | Word Command | Description | Mnemonic | Ctrl+m | EditCut | Cuts blocked off (highlighted) material | m for move text by removing | Ctr+n | EditCopy | Copies blocked off (highlighted) material | Spatial, to left of m, lesser than, copies only |
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FORMATTING COMMANDS Hotkey | Word Command | Description | Mnemonic | Ctrl+1 | ResetChar | Formats blocked off text as document’s default font (i.e. Times New Roman Regular, 12 point). Good for undoing vast swaths of formatting. | These formatting commands are all listed in frequency (for me) of use and in ascending order (in the case of font size) and these commands can be used in combination. For instance, you might want to have a bold and italic phrase. | Ctrl+2 | Italic | Formats blocked off text as Italic | " | Ctrl+3 | Bold | Formats blocked off text as Bold | " |
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SPECIAL CHARACTERS Hotkey | Word Command | Description | Mnemonic | Ctrl+9 | “ Double Opening Quote | Inserts the sexy “ typographical beginning quote rather than the plain-Jane " typewriter quote Note here that Word, in another not surprising burst of inconsistency, doesn’t list these under All Commands. Select the Category Common Symbols below to find these. This applies to the next two hotkeys as well. | On the keyboard under the ( which I extrapolate as a quote which leans that way. | Ctrl+0 | ” Double Closing Quote | Inserts the sexy ” typographical closing quote rather than the plain-Jane " typewriter quote | On the keyboard under the ) which I extrapolate as a quote which leans the other way. | Ctrl+- | —Em Dash | Inserts the long dash on Viagra—rather than the broken-wristed typewriter dash (--) | On the keyboard under the —. | Alt+’ | InsertSymbol | This gives you Word’s chart for all the Latin and foreign accented symbols, like the German umlauted ö, which I find rather sexy [Am I being sexist again? Sigh. Rebuttals and alternative gender-neutral lessons welcomed. But then I am, remember, a retrograde MAN.] Note that we’re strangely and occultly back to All Commands here for InsertSymbol, which of course they wouldn’t put under Common Symbols. Go figure. | For some strange reason, I associate this with ditto which is " on the same key. |
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INSERT COMMANDS
Hotkey | Word Command | Description | Mnemonic | Ctrl+8 | (InsertDate) | Inserts the current date in your document. You need to first assign this to a macro - see below.
Text you need to copy for macro: Sub InsertDate()
Selection.InsertDateTime DateTimeFormat:="MMMM d, yyyy", InsertAsField:= _
False
End Sub | 8 rhymes with date. | Ctrl+= | InsertAddress | This aids you in inserting an address from Microsoft Outlook into your current Word Document | The equal key is equally the + key. Plus means to add. | Ctrl+Shift
+v | (PasteDestination) | This pastes the text in your clipboard (after issuing a copy command) and assumes the formatting of the documents in which you’re pasting it. For example, I might want to copy text from a document which has a default font of Arial 18 points to a new document I’ve just opened. Since my default font is Times New Roman 12 point, the copied text will assume that new default as well. This is handier than you might suppose. It’s a way of introducing consistency in your documents. I do it after FineReader has OCRed some scanned material. | Ctrl+v is Word’s and Window’s normal copy key. This just pastes more “cleanly.” |
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COMMENTS AND THE REVIEWING PANE Hotkey | Word Command | Description | Mnemonic | Ctrl+, | ReviewingPane | A toggle that opens and closes the Reviewing Pane at the bottom of your screen, displaying your longer notes more effectively. | Frankly, I was running out of logical hotkeys. But at least these three are clustered together. | Ctrl+. | (Show/HideComment) | A toggle that’s self-explanatory. You need to first assign this to a macro - see below.
Text you need to copy for macro: Sub ShowHideComments()
WordBasic.ShowComments
CommandBars("Reviewing").Visible = False
End Sub | " | Ctrl+/ | InsertNewComment | This inserts a new comment, which will not print and you can hide or display with the macro above. In my novel-in-verse, I’m using this to keep track of where I’ve derived my allusions, where I’ve obtained my information, and where I’m going with complex imagistic clusters and the like. I make notes to myself on what I’m doing (or what I think I’m doing). We’ve come a long way from Faulkner’s keeping a map on his wall of Yoknapatawpha County with its consummate and convoluted characters. | " |
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