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Custom Special Character Shortcut Keys for § and ¶ Symbols Disappearing - Word Microsoft 365

Anonymous
2022-03-21T16:28:26+00:00

I write a lot of legal documents, so I use the Section and Paragraph symbols frequently. At my last job, I set Section to ctrl+6 and Paragraph to ctrl+7 once and those shortcuts worked every time I opened a word document. I recently changed jobs, and now I find myself having to set these shortcuts at least every day, and sometimes every time I hope a new document. Even if I save it to the specific document I'm working in, keep my word document open while I hibernate my computer that night, and then return to the same document after hibernating without ever closing it, I still find my custom shortcut keys for Section and Paragraph symbols are gone.

I've been going to Symbols; Shortcut Key; and then tried saving my custom shortcut key changes both to "Normal.dotm" and to the specific document I'm working in. After I do this, I see the shortcut key I've created in the "Special Characters" tab. And yet, if enough time passes, they disappear.

Is there anything else I should try? Could this be the result of some privacy setting from my new employer and if so, is there a way to explain this to them to see if there's a workaround on our end?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For business | Windows

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  1. Charles Kenyon 166.7K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2022-03-21T18:40:41+00:00

    You can also save shortcuts to a separate Global Template. This is a bit harder than to the normal template but may be worth doing. You would need to have the template actually open for editing to add the shortcut, however it would then be available in all documents.

    Assigning Keyboard Shortcuts in Microsoft Word 2007-2021 (365)

    See also Chris Woodman's Keyboard Shortcut Organizer.

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  2. Charles Kenyon 166.7K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2022-03-21T20:12:29+00:00

    You could also assign AutoCorrect entries.

    I would suggest _Sect and _Para as names.

    Here is a link to Keyboard Shortcuts for Paragraph and Section Symbols - a .dotx template holding shortcuts for both.

    It is in a zip folder and contains links to my pages on the Startup Folder and Global Templates.

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  3. Stefan Blom 339K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2022-03-21T18:53:21+00:00

    Charles's suggestion to set up shortcuts in a global template is a good idea.

    However, I wonder if there is a risk that an employer may prevent you from accessing the Startup folder as well...

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  4. Stefan Blom 339K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2022-03-21T16:32:27+00:00

    If you are saving the shortcuts in the Normal template, they could be lost if your employer replaces the Normal template on a regular basis. (This is bad practice, in my opinion. Employers shouldn't interfere with customizations made by employees.)

    Any shortcut saved to a specific Word document (*.docx) should continue to work, but note that such a shortcut can't be used outside of the document.

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