Creating shortcut keys
Release 9.3 Last modified June 5, 2008	Print all topics in : "Customizing the user interface"

About creating shortcut keys

When you access a menu from the keyboard using its access key, the menu opens and you can see its contents. In contrast, a command's shortcut key executes the command directly without having to open and navigate the menu first. For example, Ctrl+C is a well-known shortcut for copying something in Windows.

One command can have many shortcuts assigned to it, but each shortcut can only be assigned to one command. A command's first shortcut is displayed to its right if the command appears in a menu.

How to create shortcut keys

Assigning a shortcut key

1. Click the Tools menu and click Customize.
   
2. Click the Keyboard button.
   
3. Click the category containing the command you want to modify.
   
4. Click the command to which you want to add a keyboard shortcut.
   
5. Click in the Press new shortcut key text box and press the keys on the keyboard that you want to use for a shortcut. For example, for Ctrl + Q, do not type Ctrl;, press the Ctrl key and the Q key at the same time.
   
If those keys have been assigned to another command, that command's name will appear below.

6. In the Save in combo box, click the drop-down arrow and choose the template in which the shortcut will be saved.
   
7. Click Assign if the keys aren't currently assigned to another command.
   
The new shortcut appears in the Current Key/s list.

8. Click Close on the Customize Keyboard dialog box.
   
9. Click Close on the Customize dialog box.
   

Tips

If the shortcut key you typed for the selected command is currently assigned to a different command and you press the Assign button, the original command/key assignment will be overridden. When you use that shortcut key, your command will get executed instead of the command to which this shortcut was previously assigned. All the shortcut keys that are saved in the document will override any shortcut keys in the base templates or the Normal template. The list of commands can be filtered by entering a search string in the Show commands containing edit box. The search is case insensitive and only commands with matching caption will be listed. The category list changes based on the matching commands. Note that the Macros, Menus, New Menu, UIControls categories are always listed. To cancel filtering, leave the box empty and delete any blank space.

Removing a shortcut key

1. Click the Tools menu and click Customize.
   
2. Click Keyboard.
   
3. Click the category that contains the command you want to modify.
   
4. Click the command from which you want to remove a keyboard shortcut.
   
5. In the Save in combo box, click the drop-down arrow and choose the template from which to delete the shortcut key setting.
   
6. Click the shortcut in the Current Key/s list that you want to delete.
   
7. Click Remove.
   
8. Click Close on the Customize Keyboard dialog box.
   
9. Click Close on the Customize dialog box.
   

Resetting built-in shortcut keys

1. Click the Tools menu and click Customize.
   
2. Click Keyboard.
   
3. In the Save in combo box, click the drop-down arrow and choose the template whose shortcut keys will be reset.
   
4. Click Reset All.
   
5. Click Yes when asked if you want to reset your shortcuts.
   
6. Click Close in the Customize Keyboard dialog box.
   
7. Click Close in the Customize dialog box.
   

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