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I want the Microsoft developers to hear this! When will you make it possible to import Word customizations into Outlook?
Before Word was integrated into Outlook, there was a optional setting (in Outlook) to edit in Word. With this option selected, all of the features of Word were available in Outlook, including customized keyboard commands.
When Outlook was updated to incorporate Word, the default features of Word became available in Outlook automatically, but not user customizations.
In Outlook Options, in the Customize Ribbon section, there is an Import/Export dropdown with an "Import customization file option." However, only Outlook Customization can be imported. Why not make it possible to import Word customizations into Outlook?
A family of Microsoft word processing software products for creating web, email, and print documents.
In Office, neither Outlook nor PowerPoint support custom keyboard shortcuts. If you would like to make a suggestion that this feature be added to Outlook, please choose Help>Suggest a Feature or Help>Feedback>Make a suggestion.
Look at Stefan's answer and the comments. Some keyboard shortcuts can be created in NormalEmail.dotm that will work in Outlook classic.
Consider saving text snippets as AutoText in that template. They can be inserted through AutoComplete or through a keyboard shortcut.
AutoText and AutoComplete do work in Outlook Classic. I've used them.
So does AutoCorrect. See http://wordfaqs.ssbarnhill.com/AutoCorrect.htm I don't think that you would be able to use formatted AutoCorrect, though. I haven't tried, though.
If you open the NormalEmail.dotm template for editing in Word, you can customize (some of) the keyboard shortcuts there. This applies to classic Outlook for Windows, only.
I have not found that to be the case.
For example, it is possible to create a shortcut for a style in NormalEmail.dotm, and then use that shortcut in classic Outlook.
My attempts have mostly been to create (duplicate) keyboard shortcuts for specific symbols, which does NOT work.
I just assigned the section and paragraph symbols to keyboard shortcuts in NormalEmail.dotm. I saved the changes and then opened classic Outlook. They worked in an email message.
Maybe this doesn't work in all versions of Outlook classic. I have been able to save a custom shortcut to insert the pilcrow, ¶, for example. I am using the most recent business subscription, version 2601.
I guess I'll have to try again. The problem is perhaps that some of the shortcut keys I use in Word are already assigned to something else in Outlook. I'm trying shortcuts for the multiplication symbol (Ctrl+Shift+X, assigned to fax sending) and the prime and double prime symbols that I use for feet and inches (obviously not a problem if you use only metric measurements!). Ctrl+Shift+I and Ctrl+Shift+F are assigned to Italic and Advanced Find.
I haven't tested what happens if I try to reassign a key combination which is already set as a default shortcut in Outlook. Maybe that won't work. The trick to edit NormalEmail.dotm in Word may very well have (big) limitations.
Currently, Outlook does not support importing custom keyboard shortcuts from Word. The customization options available in Outlook are limited to its own features, and while the integration with Word provides access to some Word functionalities, user-defined customizations are not included. This limitation means that users cannot transfer their personalized keyboard shortcuts from Word into Outlook directly.
For now, users can only customize Outlook's own ribbon and commands through the options provided in Outlook itself.