Re-Installed Office 365 on my Mac, customize keyboard options are all greyed-out

Hello Rick_in_MN,

Based on your des cription, you’re very likely running into one of two “looks broken but isn’t” states on Mac after a clean reinstall:

the Customize Keyboard dialog won’t enable Add/Remove until Word/Excel detects a valid shortcut keystroke (must include at least one modifier, pressed together), and

macOS is configured to “beep” and ignore certain keystrokes in dialogs (Full Keyboard Access / system shortcut conflicts).

Please try these fixes to get custom shortcuts working again (do these in order).
Fix 1 (most common): enter the shortcut the way Word/Excel expects

In Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel, go to Tools > Customize Keyboard….

Select any Category, then select a Command (you must select a command before Add can enable).

Select inside the Press new keyboard shortcut box (make sure the caret/focus is in that box).

Now press the shortcut as a single chord: hold the modifier(s) and press the final key at the same time (example: hold Command+Shift, then press A). If you try one key at a time, Word/Excel won’t “capture” it and you’ll often just get the system beep and the Add button stays grey.

Select Add.

Fix 2: allow keyboard control of dialogs (stops the “beep/ignored keys” behavior)

On macOS, switch Full Keyboard Access to All Controls: open System Preferences, go to Keyboard Settings, open the Shortcuts tab, then press Control+F7 to change Full Keyboard Access from Text boxes and lists only to All Controls. Fix 3: if your chosen shortcut conflicts with macOS, remove the system conflict

If Word/Excel says the shortcut is assigned or macOS intercepts it, change the conflicting macOS shortcut: Apple menu > System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts, then clear the checkbox for the macOS shortcut that conflicts (the Word article calls out conflicts and this exact approach).

Fix 4: make sure your Office build is current (reinstall doesn’t guarantee this)

In any Office app, go to Help > Check for Updates (this runs Microsoft AutoUpdate) and install the latest updates, then restart the Mac and test again.

For more information, you can check at these pages:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-a-custom-keyboard-shortcut-for-office-for-mac-6bbeb90e-96d9-4e03-b199-fc026ebdc321

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-a-custom-keyboard-shortcut-for-word-for-mac-3e865725-831c-4b45-9187-eeaf896fa110

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/keyboard-shortcuts-in-word-95ef89dd-7142-4b50-afb2-f762f663ceb2

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/release-notes-office-for-mac

I hope this will help with your situation. Please feel free to reach back if you have further update or more questions.

Best Regards,

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