Productivity Cheat Sheet 12 - Word 5

Now that we are at the tail end of the Word shortcuts, let me wag my tongue a bit and tell you an open secret: You can assign a shortcut key to virtually anything you want in Word—be it a command, a macro, a font, an AutoText entry, a style, or symbol.

To do this simply go to the Tools menu, select Customize, and then Keyboard. In the Save changes in dropdown, click on the name of the current document (or template file) in which you want to save the shortcut key changes. Then, in the Categories box click on the category that contains the command or other item. In the Commands box, click on the name of the command or other item. All shortcut keys that are currently assigned will appear in the Current keys box. Now to assign a shortcut, begin shortcut key combinations with Ctrl, Alt, or a function key. Click on the Press new shortcut key box and press the shortcut key combination you want to assign.

Check Currently assigned to verify if the combo is already assigned or not. If yes, select another combo. Once done, click on Assign. To remove a shortcut, in the Current keys box, click the shortcut key you want to delete and click on Remove.

Remember, reassigning a key combo means that you can’t use it for its original purpose. So if Ctrl + I italisises text, and you reassign this combo to insert your name or whatever, you won’t be able to italisise text with Ctrl + I until you restore the original shortcut key assignment setting.

Now let’s get down to mail merge shorties in Word.

PERFORMING A MAIL MERGE
To start the Mail Merge task pane, go via Tools menu > Letters and Mailings command > Mail Merge subcommand.
Alt + Shift + F: Inserts a merge field
Alt + Shift + N: Merges a document
Alt + Shift + E: Edits a mail-merge data document.
Alt + Shift + K: Previews a mail merge
Alt + Shift + M: Prints merged document

WORKING WITH FIELDS
Alt + Shift +D: Inserts a DATE field
Alt + Ctrl + L: Inserts a LISTNUM field
Alt + Shift + P: Inserts a PAGE field
Alt + Shift + T: Insert a TIME field
Ctrl + F9: Inserts an empty field
Ctrl + Shift+F7: Updates linked information in a Word source document
F9: Updates selected fields
Ctrl + Shift+F9: Unlinks a field
Shift + F9: Switches between a selected field code and its result
Alt + F9: Switches between all field codes and their results
Alt + Shift + F9: Runs GOTOBUTTON or MACROBUTTON from the field that displays the field results
F11: Goes to the next field
Shift + F11: Goes to the previous field
Ctrl + F11: Locks a field
Ctrl + Shift + F11: Unlocks a field

SENDING E-MAIL MESSAGES
Use the following keys to e-mail a document or a message when the insertion point is in the e-mail header. Press Shift + Tab to move the insertion point into the e-mail header.
Alt + S: Sends active document (i.e. the document in which you're working) or message
Ctrl + Shift + B: Opens Address Book
Alt + K, Ctrl + K: When insertion point is in message header, checks names on To, Cc, and Bcc lines against Address Book
Alt + .: Opens Address Book in To field
Alt + C: When insertion point is in message header, opens Address Book in Cc field
Alt + B: If Bcc field is visible, opens Address Book in Bcc field. To display Bcc field, open Address Book for any field, and insert or type a name in Bcc box
Alt + J: Goes to Subject field
Alt + P: Opens Microsoft Outlook Message Options dialog box
Ctrl + Shift + G: Creates a message flag
Tab: When insertion point is in message header, moves to next box in e-mail header. When last box in e-mail header is active, TAB moves insertion point to body of document or message
Shift + Tab: Selects previous field or button in e-mail header
Ctrl + Tab: When insertion point is in message header, select Send button. You can then use the arrow keys to move to other buttons. To perform action for selected button or command, press Enter