Shortcut keys help you get more out of Word. They speed up your work by allowing you to execute commands quickly without searching for them on the menus and dialog boxes.

The shortcut keys in Word 2007 are much the same as the shortcut keys in earlier versions of Word. But, you may want to customize the shortcut keys.

You may want to change a default shortcut key to one that makes more sense to you. Or, you may want to add a shortcut key to a command that does not currently have one. Fortunately, you can customize Word 2007's shortcut keys easily.

1. Click the Office button

2. Select Word Options

3. Click Customize

4. In the bottom of the window, click the Customize button beside Keyboard shortcuts

5. In the Customize Keyboard box, locate the command for which you would like to edit the keyboard shortcut. Start by selecting the category. For each category, the commands will appear at the right side of the window. When you select one, a brief description will appear at the bottom of the dialog box.

6. The current shortcut key, if there is one, will appear in the Current keys box

7. Click inside the box labeled Press new shortcut key

8. Press the shortcut key you would like to use. Include the Ctrl, Shift, or Ctrl + Shift keys

9. If the shortcut key is currently assigned, Word will tell you what command currently uses the shortcut key

10. You can reassign the shortcut key, or you can select a new one

11. Choose whether you'd like to save the shortcut key in the Normal template (all documents) or only the current document

12. Click Assign when you're happy with your changes

13. Click Close