Are Keyboard Shortcuts Not Working in Word? Here Are the Fixes!

Some Word users encounter the “keyboard shortcuts not working in Word” issue when using the application. This issue can be found on Windows 11/10/8/7.  The detailed information is as follows. The following are the possible culprits:

• Misconfigured shortcut mapping
• Incorrect default language
• Microsoft Office has issues
• Malfunctioning keyboard or outdated drivers

Related posts:

• How to Create and Use Shutdown Shortcut on Windows 10/11
• Word Isn’t Default Program for Viewing and Editing Documents

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Then, let’s see how to fix the “laptop keyboard shortcuts not working in Word” issue.

Solution 1: Repair Microsoft Office

Microsoft provides an effective built-in quick repair tool to repair Office. Therefore, you can follow the steps below to repair Office to fix the keyboard shortcuts not working in Word issue.

Step 1: Type Control Panel in the Search box.

Step 2: Click the Uninstall a program button under Programs.

Step 3: Find and right-click the Office application to select Change.

Step 4: Choose Quick Repair or Online Repair based on your situation according to the on-screen instructions.

Solution 2: Reset All Customize Keyboard Shortcuts

The next method for you to fix the “keyboard shortcuts not working in Word” issue is resetting all customized keyboard shortcuts. Here is how to do that:

Step 1: Open Microsoft Word. Go to File > Options.

Step 2: Click Customise Ribbon > Customise….

Step 3: Click Reset all to reset all customized keyboard shortcuts.

Solution 3: Boot Word in Safe Mode

Sometimes, add-ons can cause problems. To determine if there is a problem with the add-in, launch Word in Safe Mode and see if the problem goes away.

Step 1: Press Windows + R to open Run. Type winword /safe and press Enter.

Step 2: Go to File > Options.

Step 3: Click Add-ins and click Go….

Step 4: Select any add-ins that appear in the list, and click Remove.

Solution 4: Change Word Language

Some users report that changing the Word language can help fix the “keyboard shortcuts not working in Word” issue.

Step 1: Launch Word, and click the File > Options.

Step 2: Go to the Language tab, and click Add a Language….

Step 3: Select English (United States) from the list, and then click the Install button.

Step 4: Once done, set English (United States) as the preferred language under both Office display language and Office authoring languages and proofing.

Final Words

To sum up, this post has introduced 4 useful and feasible methods to fix the “keyboard shortcuts not working in Word” error. If you encounter the same issue, you can try the methods mentioned above.