Restoring FIND Keyboard Shortcut in Word 2016

There’s nothing like a good keyboard shortcut to help improve workflow efficiency.  Most Office users quickly learn the standard keyboard shortcuts, like CTRL+S for SAVE or CTRL+P for PRINT, but what about CTRL+F for FIND?  This is a great way to bring up the FIND dialog box.

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Somewhere along the way, Microsoft, in its infinite wisdom, decided to reprogram the oh-so-loved CTRL+F keyboard shortcut.  Instead of opening a FIND dialog box, CTRL+F now opens the Navigation Pane.

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Now don’t get me wrong, I thing the Navigation Pane is a great tool.  But some people just really love the more traditional approach of the FIND dialog box.  Here is how you can “put things right.”

Step 1

Launch Microsoft Word and then click the FILE tab and select OPTIONS.

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This will launch the Word Options dialog box.

Step 2

Click Customize Ribbon on the left side of the Word Options dialog box and then click the Customize… button at the bottom of the left column.

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This will launch the Customize Keyboard dialog box.

Step 3

In the Categories: list (upper-left), click Home Tab.  In the Commands: list (upper right), scroll down and select EditFind.  In the Press new shortcut key: field, press and hold the CTRL key and then press the letter F.  Click the Assign button in the lower-left corner of the Customize Keyboard dialog box.

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Step 4

Click the Close button in the lower-right corner of the Customize Keyboard dialog box and then click the OK button in the lower-right corner of the Word Options dialog box.

You have now restored CTRL+F to all of its original glory.