The Microsoft Office suite is one of the most popular office solutions. From Word and Excel to Pow­er­Point – the practical ap­pli­ca­tions for writing, cal­cu­lat­ing, and pre­sent­ing have been proving their worth for years. But many users are not even aware of the range of features that they provide. For instance, MS Office programs include a function that allows you to create, save, and execute macros in order to automate certain tasks and processes. Es­pe­cial­ly for regularly recurring workflows, this feature lets you save valuable time and effort.

But what role do macros play in Word and how do these command sequences work exactly? Also find out how to create macros in Word and integrate them into your documents.

What is a Word macro?

Macros are con­sid­ered a standard feature in pro­gram­ming as well as the use of computer programs. They are basically sub­pro­grams that de­vel­op­ers and users can create to save sequences of commands or operating in­struc­tions, which can then be started with a simple action. When faced with many regularly recurring tasks, Microsoft Word is typically an ap­pli­ca­tion that benefits from the option to automate work steps.

For this reason, the Editor (as well as Access, Excel or Pow­er­Point, for example) include an in­te­grat­ed tool for recording and executing custom Word macros. The script language Visual Basic for Ap­pli­ca­tions (VBA), likewise developed by Microsoft, serves as the recording language here.

Note

The event-driven pro­gram­ming language VBA replaced the mutually in­com­pat­i­ble macro languages of the various Microsoft Office programs in the mid-1990s. Thanks to this stan­dard­ized solution, cross-program command chains can also be created and run to transfer data from a Word document into an Excel table with a single click, for example.

How Do Macros Work in Word?

Creating macros in Word may sound like a task for ex­pe­ri­enced pro­gram­mers at first. After all, writing new program code in a special pro­gram­ming language is not often among the core skills of the average Word user. However, the fact that creating and using Word macros is possible without any pro­gram­ming knowledge at all is thanks to the in­te­grat­ed macro tool. Known as a macro recorder, this tool makes writing code com­plete­ly un­nec­es­sary. To create a new macro, all the user has to do is start recording, perform the desired operating steps and commands, and then stop the recording again when the sequence is finished. The VBA code for Word macros is generated au­to­mat­i­cal­ly; no further action is required on the part of the user.

Note

With the Visual Basic Editor, the Microsoft Office tools have in­te­grat­ed their own VBA de­vel­op­ment en­vi­ron­ment that allows the code of recorded macros to be viewed and edited.

You can also assign each new macro in Word with a unique key com­bi­na­tion or button that allows the cor­re­spond­ing command sequence to be run at any time. In the case of buttons, these can be added to the toolbar for quick access, enabling you to start a macro with a single click. If the Word macro created is to be available in all documents, save it in the template file Normal.dotm, which is used by Word as the general template for all new text projects.

Creating Macros in Word: How it Works

If you would like to configure your own automated sequences for your Word documents, but lack the technical knowledge in the pro­gram­ming language VBA, you should use the option to create macros in Word using the recorder. You can find the macro tools as standard under the “Macros” section in the “View” tab. In order to make it easier to create and manage Word macros, however, it is advisable to activate the developer tools which provide you access to the Visual Basic Editor, among other features. This optional toolbox can be unlocked as follows:

  1. Open the “File” tab.
  2. Click on “Options”.
  3. Switch to the “Customize the Ribbon” section and place a checkmark in the “Developer” box (under “Main Tabs”).
Image: Word 2016: “Customize the Ribbon” in the Word options
You can remove the developer tools from the Word ribbon at any time by de­ac­ti­vat­ing the checkbox.
Tip

Did you know, you can also create Pow­er­Point Macros and Excel Macros. Find out how in our handy articles! 

As soon as you have activated the “Developer” tools in the Word options, the tab under the same name will au­to­mat­i­cal­ly be added to the user interface. When you click on it, you will see the section for creating and managing macros in the far left of the toolbar. Find out in the following step-by-step guide how to create your own macros in Word using this quick-access menu and how you can run them at a later time.

Recording Word Macros Executed by Button

The typical solution for a new macro in Word is one that can be run by clicking a button. If you would like to create such a macro using the developer tools, first click on the “Developer” tab and then select the option “Record Macro”:

Image: Word 2016: “Developer” tab
To open the menu for recording new Word macros, you can also press the [Alt], [L], and [R] keys con­sec­u­tive­ly.

Now enter a name for the macro and select the document you wish to create the macro for under “Store macro in:”. If you would like to create a cross-program macro, simply select the option “All Documents (Normal.dotm)”. To enable the macro to be executed in Word using a button, finally click on “Button”:

Image: The “Record Macro” menu in Word 2016
You have the option to add in­di­vid­ual in­for­ma­tion about the Word macro you want to create under “De­scrip­tion”.

Select the macro you wish to create in the left window and click on “Add”, making it also se­lec­table in the right window. Click on it here again and then press the “Change” button. You can now assign your new Word macro any icon you wish:

Image: Adjusting the quick-access toolbar in Word 2016
When assigning the button for the new macro, you also have the option of adding it to all Word documents (standard) or for a certain document only.

Confirm your desired button by clicking on “OK” twice. Now perform the actions you want to save in the macro. Word will record your mouse clicks as well as key strokes. However, the recorder will not save any movements or high­light­ing with the mouse. So if you want to select some text, for example, you will need to use the keyboard (hold down the [Shift] key and use the arrow keys).

Once you have finished the sequence for the macro, you can stop the recording via “Stop Recording”:

Image: The “Developer” tab in Word 2016
You can also pause the recording for the Word macro tem­porar­i­ly: Simply use the “Pause Recording” button in the toolbar.

The key for the new Word macro will au­to­mat­i­cal­ly be added to the toolbar for quick access:

Image: Microsoft Word 2016: Quick-access toolbar
The quick-access toolbar also contains as standard the buttons for saving the current Word document or reversing changes.

Creating Word Macros Executed via Key Com­bi­na­tion

You can create a Word macro that can be started using a unique key com­bi­na­tion in es­sen­tial­ly the same way as for macro buttons: Start the process using the “Record Macro” button in the macro menu under “Developer”, enter a suitable name, and decide whether you want to make the macro available in all documents or only in a certain project. In the final step before beginning the recording, you should choose the “Keyboard” option in order to open the menu for new hotkeys:

Image: The “Record Macro” Word menu
If you choose a name for a new macro which already exists, Word will ask whether you wish to replace the original macro.

In the “Customize Keyboard” menu that then appears, select the macro under “Commands”. Next, click on the “Press new shortcut key” field with the left mouse button and press your desired key com­bi­na­tion. Here it is important to press these keys si­mul­ta­ne­ous­ly. In the following Word macro example, we used the [Ctrl], [Shift], and [#] keys.

Image: Word 2016: “Customize Keyboard” menu
Word will tell you whether a chosen key com­bi­na­tion already exists or is not yet assigned – as in this example.

Under “Save changes in”, you can define whether the key com­bi­na­tion should be valid uni­ver­sal­ly (“Normal”) or only for a certain Word document; to confirm your choice, click on the “Assign” button. As soon as you close the menu, the macro recording will start.

Executing Word Macros

Once you have created a macro, you can start it at any time using the defined execution option. You only need to use the define key com­bi­na­tion or click on the cor­re­spond­ing button in the quick-access menu (in the top left). You can also run your Word macros using the macro list by following the steps below:

  1. Click on the “Macros” button under the “Developer” tab or al­ter­na­tive­ly on “Macros” in the menu under the “View” tab, and then on “View Macros”.
  2. Select the desired macro from the list using a left mouse click.
  3. Now press “Run”.
Image: List of available macros in Word 2016
Once you have activated the developer tools, you can open the selected Word macro in the Visual Basic Editor by clicking on “Edit”.

Adding macro buttons to a Word tab ribbon

If the macro icon is too small for you in the quick-access toolbar or if you would like to add a button for a macro ex­e­cutable via key com­bi­na­tion, you can also integrate a macro button into the ribbon of any tab. To do so, simply create a user-defined group for the tab and add the desired macro to it. You can do both in the “Customize Ribbon” menu in the Word options (ac­ces­si­bly via “File” -> “Options”).

Creating a user-defined group:

In the right window under “Customize Ribbon”, select the tab in which you wish to create the new group and then click on the “New Group” button. In addition to the standard groups here, the entry “New Group (User-Defined)” will now appear. Click on this and then press “Rename” to give the group a suitable name as well as an icon:

Image: Word 2016: Customizing the ribbon for the “Start” tab
World will only display the selected symbol if the width of the program window is reduced and the group is collapsed for this reason.

In­te­grat­ing a Word macro into a user-defined group:

After creating a user-defined group for a tab’s ribbon, you can now add any number of Word macros to this group. First click on the “Macros” option in the left menu section under “Choose commands from:” and then on the Word macro you wish to integrate. In the right menu window, now click on the user-defined group before finally pressing the “Add” button:

Image: Adding Word macros to a tab
If you would like to remove a macro from a user-defined ribbon group again, select it in the right menu window and then click on the “Remove” button.

Close the Word options and open the tab you added the macro button to. You should now see this in the group you created in the ribbon:

Image: Word 2016: Customized ribbon
In standard tabs, new groups are typically added to the right of existing groups. But you can also adjust the order and position the button elsewhere.

Importing Existing Macros in Word

You may also find yourself in the situation in which you already have VBA macros, but they are not available in your Word in­stal­la­tion. This could be the case, for instance, if you created these macros on another device or received them from another person. Plus, there are various online sources where you can find a wide range of macros. Microsoft Word offers you the option to import ready-made command chains for use in your program. The tool for this is the Visual Basic Editor mentioned earlier. It can be opened via the key com­bi­na­tion [Alt] + [F11] or al­ter­na­tive­ly using the “Developer” tab.

The next steps depend on whether you are importing a finished macro file or pure macro code.

Importing ready-made macro files (.frm, .bas, .cls):

If you have a complete macro as a file, you can import it into your Word in­stal­la­tion in just a few steps. First, select the document you want to add the macro to in the Project Explorer. If you can’t find the explorer in the code editor, you can open it by selecting the “View” tab and pressing the “Project Explorer” menu item. In the file manager, now click on your current or another Word project if the macro should only be applied to one document. If you select the project “Normal”, the Word macro will be imported for all documents:

Image: Project Explorer in the Visual Basic Editor
When you no longer need the Project Explorer, you can close it at any time by clicking on the cross in the top right.

To import the macro, click on “File” and then “Import File”. Specify the storage location for the macro file and press “Open” to start the import process.

Image: The “Import File” option in the Visual Basic Editor
If you have created a Word macro, you can also export it as a file here using the button under the same name.

Importing macro code:

If you only have the code for a certain macro, other steps have to be taken for importing. Here too, you start by selecting the document you wish to add the automatic command sequence to. Open the explorer and double-click on the entry “This­Doc­u­ment” (in the subfolder “Microsoft Word Objects”) for the re­spec­tive document or under “Normal” (to save the macro in the universal template):

Image: Microsoft Word 2016: Project Explorer
When you select the project “Normal”, Word will save the macro in the universal template Normal.dotm.

In the code window that appears next, copy the macro code and then click on the “Save” button. If you selected a specific Word document in the previous step, you will be notified that you will have to save it as a “Word document with macros”. Then click on “No” and select the cor­re­spond­ing entry under the “File Type” list. Finally, click on “Save” to generate the new file format:

Image: Changing the Word file type
To save an imported macro in the current Word document, you will need to change the format of your current document. When saving in the universal template, however, this is not necessary.

Word Macros: Examples of Useful Command Sequences

Now that you know what a Word macro is and how to use macros in Word (creating, running, and importing macros), we can explain the purpose of these command chains for au­toma­tion in Microsoft’s text editor using a number of specific Word macro examples.

Word Macro for Au­to­mat­i­cal­ly De­ter­min­ing the Average Sentence Length

There are various web tools you can use to analyze your texts – such as to ascertain the average length of your sentences. Using the right macro, you can also find this out directly in Word. The following code au­to­mat­i­cal­ly looks at all the sentences in your document and divides the total word count by the number of sentences. The macro then displays the average length in a text popup (“Average Words Per Sentence:”):

Sub CountWords()
Dim s As Range
Dim numWords As Integer
Dim numSentences As Integer
numSentences = 0
numWords = 0
For Each s In ActiveDocument.Sentences
numSentences = numSentences + 1
numWords = numWords + s.Words.Count
Next
MsgBox "Average Words Per Sentence: " + Str(Int(numWords / numSentences))
End Sub

Word Macro Example: Cor­rect­ing Trans­posed Letters

Anyone who regularly types texts on a computer will know just how quickly typos like trans­posed letters occur. But these errors can be quickly corrected. Using the following macro, you only need to place the marker in front of the erroneous pair of letters. Running the macro via key com­bi­na­tion or button then allows the letters to be swapped around au­to­mat­i­cal­ly:

Sub TransposeCharacters()
Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1, Extend:=wdExtend
Selection.Cut
Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
Selection.Paste
End Sub

Macro Code for Removing All Hy­per­links

Whenever you include website addresses in your texts, Word will au­to­mat­i­cal­ly change them into clickable hy­per­links to the cor­re­spond­ing sites. But if you don’t want your document to contain these hy­per­links, you usually have to delete the links in­di­vid­u­al­ly. The following Word macro example saves you a whole lot of work by au­to­mat­i­cal­ly removing the first hyperlink found in the document. You can therefore run the macro as often as necessary until all the hy­per­links are gone:

Sub RemoveHyperlinks()
'On Error Resume Next
Dim x As Variant
For Each x In ActiveDocument.Hyperlinks
Selection.WholeStory
Selection.Range.Hyperlinks(1).Delete
Next x
End Sub
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