Share via

How to restore F4 "repeat last command" function?

asdfsdfsfwsdfcsdf 1 Reputation point
2022-02-18T20:48:32.897+00:00

Something got knocked loose in one of my documents, and F4 no longer repeats the last command as it normally does. Instead it sets the selected paragraph's style to Normal.

I know how to assign a command to a shortcut, but what command do I want to assign? I can't find anything about this on the Web. I could look it up in another file where F4 still works, but although I know how to find the shortcut key assigned to a given command, I don't know any way to find the command assigned to a given shortcut key.

Word Management
Word Management
Word: A family of Microsoft word processing software products for creating web, email, and print documents.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
907 questions
0 comments

5 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Stefan Blom 2,131 Reputation points MVP
    2022-02-20T10:51:47.703+00:00

    Your description indicates that the F4 command has been re-assigned.

    Is this Word for Windows? In that case, click File > Options > Customize Ribbon and then click the Customize button. This opens the Customize Keyboard dialog box. Change the category to "All Commands" and locate the EditRedoOrRepeat command to which you should assign a new shortcut. When you have specified the desired key assignment, click Assign. See screen shot.

    176143-customizekeyboardassignmentswordwindows.png

    2 people found this answer helpful.
  2. Charles Kenyon 2,781 Reputation points
    2022-02-28T20:10:40.907+00:00

    In your question you included the phrase "in one of my documents." Is the problem confined to that document? If so, keyboard reassignment can also be confined to a single document.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. asdfsdfsfwsdfcsdf 1 Reputation point
    2022-02-22T15:44:07.673+00:00

    Stefan, I appreciate your willingness to help, but now that I know which command corresponds to F4, I can see that shortcut assignment is not the problem. F4's assignment has not changed; EditRedoOrRepeat has changed. Its keyboard assignments are as they should be, and every one of them has the effect I described.

  4. Jonathan Sachs 1 Reputation point
    2022-03-03T04:56:10.54+00:00

    The problem is not limited to a single file. It affects some files but not others. I have not identified a common factor in the files affected.

  5. Sandie 0 Reputation points
    2023-12-14T08:42:13.53+00:00

    I have the same problem, in that the F4 function key repeatedly fails; I am using a laptop with a full sized keyboard connected and on checking the Customize Ribbon option, F4 is assigned.

    This problem affects many documents not just my current one.

    It has been an ongoing problem for years, although I can occasionally fix it by closing all Word documents, deleting the Normal.dotm template, waiting 15 minutes or so and allowing it to recreate this when I next reopen a Word document. It is such a random thing that on occasion I've thought that it breaks because the wind has changesd direction!

    However, today I'm at my wits end; I've deleted the Normal.dotm at least six times with no success, and this is seriously slowing down my productivity.

    Does anyone have a possible solution or insight please?