Author: Michael Crider / Source: howtogeek.com
Macros are basic bits of programming that let you hit a quick button or keyboard shortcut to trigger a pre-recorded action. Here’s how to make easy ones in Word.
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What Is a Macro?
A macro is really just a recording of a series of button presses, clicks, and typing. When you record a macro, you just hit record, perform the steps you want to automate, stop the recording, let Word create the programming for you, and then assign the macro to a button or keyboard shortcut. Whenever you want to perform that series of actions in the future, you just activate the macro.
You can use macros for all kinds of things. Honestly, the possibilities are pretty much limitless. For example, you could set up a macro that creates a new footer with your company information, formats the text however you like, and even inserts page numbers. So, why not just do this using a template with some boilerplate text? Well, you can. But what happens when you have an existing document to which you want to add that stuff?
You could also create macros to insert already-formatted tables of a specific size, search for a specific paragraph style, or just insert some text.
We’re going to use the very basic example of inserting some text to walk you through how to record a macro. But use your imagination and experiment. You’ll be surprised how much you can do with them.
How to Record a Macro
First, create a new blank Word document to work in. You’ll be able to save your macros in a system-wide database, so you don’t need to create new ones for each document you work on. In the blank document, switch to the “View” tab on the Ribbon, click the “Macros” dropdown menu, and then click the “Record Macro” command.
Next, give your macro an appropriate name and type a brief description. It’s an important step, especially if you’re planning on making a lot of macros. For our example, we’re going to create a kind of jokey text insertion that types the name: “Lwaxana Troi, Daughter of the Fifth House, holder of the…
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