F4 works differently in Word 2007

[Kathy]

In previous versions, pressing F4 after typing a string of text would repeat
the whole string (as long as I hadn't paused in the middle of typing). Now,
with 2007, it repeats only the last character I typed. That renders the F4
key virtually useless for repeating text typing. Any way to make it act as it
used to?

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Open a new document and type:

This is a test <Press Enter>

Then press F4.

Here, pressing F4 causes "This is a test<paragraph mark> to appear a 2nd
time. Does that not happen for you?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

In all versions, though, continuous "Typing" will be interrupted (in the
Undo/Redo list) by an AutoCorrect or AutoFormat action.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

 

[Kathy]

Thanks, Herb and Suzanne, for answering. I don't thnk any AutoCorrect or
AutoFormat is being applied--at least not that I can tell.

However, further testing shows me that it happens in some documents and not
in others. I opened a new document and tried Herb's test, and F4 worked fine,
repeating the whole entry. Then I tried in an existing document--both in a
table and not--and got the problem result.

From reading others of Suzanne's posts I knew to check the Undo list.
Sure enough, the document where it worked showed simply "Typing" as the last
action. In the document where it didn't work, the Undo list showed each
character I had typed as a separate, discrete action.

Mind you, I do not delay between characters. I type about 130 wpm, so it
beats me why it sometimes sees a string of text as a single entity, and
sometimes not. Help? This is a feature I use a LOT, so I'll really hate to
lose it.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Clearly there's something weird about that document since obviously it
should not be behaving that way. If you copy/paste some of the content into
a fresh document, what behavior do you see? It may be that the document is
corrupt or verging on corruption, so you might try Open and Repair.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

....and if Open and Repair doesn't restore the ability, another laundering
technique is to save the file in .rtf. Close it. Re-open the .rtf. Then save
as a doc (or docx) file. No guarantees... but I find that this laundering
technique frequently gets rid of document corruption.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Another note: I noticed something similar was going on in one of my
documents, and I realized that the reason for it in this particular instance
was that I was selecting small bits of text and replacing them. In such
cases, Word treats the first letter as a replacement of the selected text
and the rest as Typing. If you replace just two characters, then you get an
entry in the Undo list for each of them individually.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA