F4/repeat

Question

I recently began using Office 365 and seem to have lost some Word functionality I rely on. I used to use F4 to repeat my last action, whether that was making something bold or applying a template style or repeating the last word(s) I typed. I did this dozens of times every day, and it saved me loads of time. Now pressing F4 gives me only the last character I typed, not the last word(s). I have seen in more recent posts that F4 is supposed to give you only the last character typed, not everything since the most recent mouse click. But I found this 2012 answer from an MVP, and I think it might be a key here:

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You're looking for "F4".  This is special to Word: it repeats all keystrokes since the most recent mouse-click.

So you can type a whole paragraph, cursor back, capitalise a word, bold a word, go to the end of the paragraph, hit Enter -- then hit F4 and you will get another paragraph just like it.

As Bob says, it's keystrokes only: as soon as you touch the mouse you end the run.  You cannot use it to repeat the result of a mouse action.

Hope this helps

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How do I get that old functionality back? Is there a different name/key for it?

Many thanks,

Kitty

Answer 1

To see the Office version, follow the steps in What version of Office am I using?

The 1711.8730.2127 version was released on December 12, 2017. There have been eight updates since then, and the current version is 1802.9029.2167. The list is at this page.

Updates should be sent to you automatically, but maybe they haven't arrived. To force an update, go to File > Account, click the Update Options button, and click Update Now in the menu.

By the way, "Click-to-Run" is a software delivery method that Microsoft uses. Nearly all Office 365 subscription software is installed that way, rather than from a CD/DVD disk.

Answer 2

Try repairing the Office installation as detailed in the Knowledge Base article at:

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Repair-an-Office-application-7821d4b6-7c1d-4205-aa0e-a6b40c5bb88b?CorrelationId=1b0030f4-8cc5-4485-b495-810e2a7d1284&ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US

Answer 3

In Word, go to File>Account where you will see the version\build numbers and also an Update Options button.

Answer 4

Have you tried updating your Office installation via File>Account?

What version of Office are you now using?

F4 repeats the last typed string of characters\words in Word 2016 Version 1802 (Build 9029.2167 Click-to-Run) - Monthly Channel and in Version 1708 (Build 8431.2215 Click-to-Run) - Semi-annual Channel.

Answer 5

BTW, the MVP was John McGhie, but I didn't see a way to ask him directly. But if you're out there John, please help. :-)