vfxjohn said:
is there a hotkey to show/hide the formatting palette in word 2008?
Not by default, but you can assign one via Tools/Customize Keyboard...
Choose the View category in the Categories listbox, then find the
ToggleOfficeToolbox command in the Commands listbox. Assign the key
combo you want.
Note that this just toggles the toolbox - AFAIK you can't pick which
pane (i.e., Formatting Palette, Object Palette, Citations, etc...)