How to create a Macro in Microsoft Office

The term macro creates fear and anxiety for many Word users, which is mainly because they do not understand what exactly a Word macro is. Fortunately, creating and running a macro is not difficult, and the resulting efficiency is well worth the time spent learning how to use one.

A macro is a series of recorded commands that are associated with a shortcut key so that it can be played back, or executed, later. Simply put, when you press the shortcut key or click the macro name, your computer program carries out the instructions you recorded for the macro.

For example, instead of clicking several menus and buttons to add text to your document in Microsoft Word, you can record those steps in a macro and then just click the macro to add the text in one step!

Want to try it out?

Here is how you can create your very own macro:

1. Open Microsoft Office.
2. If your DEVELOPER tab is not currently displayed, click FILE-under HELP click OPTIONS-click CUSTOMIZE RIBBON-under MAIN TABS click the box beside DEVELOPER and click OK.
3. Click the DEVELOPER tab and click RECORD MACRO. You will see the box below:

4.       In the Macro name box, type the name of your macro.

5.       In the Store macro in box, click All Documents (Normal.dot).

6.       Click OK. Recording now begins.

7.       In your Microsoft Word document, type the text that you want to record.

8.       When you are finished, click STOP RECORDING on the recording toolbar.

9.       Open a new Word document.

10.   Under the DEVELOPER tab, click on MACROS. This displays the Macros dialog box.

11.   In the Macros in list, click Normal.dot (global template).

12.   In the Macro name list, click the name of your macro, and then click run. The text or command you performed in step 7 should have appeared in the new document.

Enjoy!