Interchange line break and paragraph break shortcut keys

[skan]

Hello.

How can I interchange the key shortcuts for inserting a line break with the paragraph break one?

They are currently inserted by pressing Shift+Enter and Enter respectively. I would like to reverse that assignation.

I would like to get a new paragraph break when pressing Shift+Enter, and a new line break when pressing Enter.

The reason is because is much more common to insert new line paragraphs and it's more comfortable to use a single key.

How can I do it?
I've tried in Options -> Customize Ribbon -> Customize Keyboard Shortcuts -> but I Can't find the related functions there.

 

[macropod]

The reason is because is much more common to insert new line paragraphs and it's more comfortable to use a single key.

I doubt you would find many who would agree with that contention. Inserting manual line breaks does not create a new paragraph - it merely creates line breaks within the current paragraph. In nearly three decades of using Word (for the most part, professionally), trained others in its usage and provided extensive online help, etc. for Word, I have never before encountered such a misconception.

 

[skan]

I doubt you would find many who would agree with that contention. Inserting manual line breaks does not create a new paragraph - it merely creates line breaks within the current paragraph. In nearly three decades of using Word (for the most part, professionally), trained others in its usage and provided extensive online help, etc. for Word, I have never before encountered such a misconception.

I think I didn't write what I wanted, I'm sorry
I mean it's more common to insert new line breaks than new paragraph breaks.
Then it make sense to use fewer keys for the most common task, but now we need one key (Enter) for paragraph break, and two keys (Shift+Enter) for line break. I would like to reverse it.

 

[macropod]

Unless you're trying to use Word like a typewriter instead of as a word processor, why would you be inserting line breaks at all? That is usually only done when you need to foreshorten lines within the same paragraph or you're trying to prevent a hyperlink, for example, being split across two lines - neither of which is a common occurrence.

 

[skan]

Unless you're trying to use Word like a typewriter instead of as a word processor, why would you be inserting line breaks at all? That is usually only done when you need to foreshorten lines within the same paragraph or you're trying to prevent a hyperlink, for example, being split across two lines - neither of which is a common occurrence.

Because I want two different sentences in the same paragraph.
Maybe in English is not common but in other languages is.

 

[macropod]

In that case, simply insert a period followed by one or two spaces, then type the second sentence - just like most Word users would! Even your own posts in this thread don't start every sentence on a new line...

 

[skan]

Besides being right or not,
is there any way to modify that key shortcuts?

 

[macropod]

Not that I am aware of. You can access all the commands to which shortcuts might be (re)assigned via File|Options|Customize Ribbon>Keyboard Shortcuts:Customize.

I have seen others try to re-assign Word's dedicated shortcut keys to macros, with the result that not only did their macro do what it was supposed to but the dedicated shortcut also did what it was supposed to, regardless of supposedly being re-assigned...

 

[skan]

Not that I am aware of. You can access all the commands to which shortcuts might be (re)assigned via File|Options|Customize Ribbon>Keyboard Shortcuts:Customize.

That's were I've been looking for, but I'm not able to find the related command.

 

[Matthew Miner]

1. Keys that "self insert" can't be reassigned. The letter "a" can't be changed to mean "perform command Insert Picture." Enter and Shift-Enter insert their respective characters, so can't be reassigned. Can you imagine the chaos of typing "A" and inserting the letter "g"? The phone would never stop ringing at the support center.

2. You could assign F12 (for example) - currently FileSaveAs - to be a macro containing the statement:
Selection.TypeText Text:=Chr(11).
That would insert your new line in one simple key (alternative to shift-enter).
Fwiw, when I want Shift-Enter, my right hand pinky hits the Shift key and my ring finger the Enter key, so I think of it as one key, anyway... But, you can send it up to hit F12 (which I have never used, due to ancient habit, I access it as "Alt-F, a"). To each their own

3. I'd bet money that with a better understanding of the situation, our recommendation would be to not switch. A Paragraph is _the_ unit of work in Word. You indent based on paragraphs, you format based on paragraphs, set margins based on paragraphs, etc. All paragraphs. Characters (including line end, aka Shift-Enter), are really second class citizens by comparison.

For example, let's say you are typing a stream of text. You separate into paragraphs, typically, for ease in reading and comprehension. If you use Shift-Enter, you have to hit it twice to separate paragraphs. If you use paragraphs and a good format/style, everything happens automatically. Want to see some odd behavior? Use Shift-Enter to separate paragraphs. Now, select what you consider a paragraph and click Justify. Ugh. Similar issues if you use bullets, and various other smart formats.

4. The typical reason for using a shift-enter is to keep two lines together, and handle them as a unit, rather than to let normal paragraph handling add space, etc. Are you perhaps having issue with spacing between paragraphs (lines)? You do know that you can control spacing between, well, everything? You can control spacing between letters in a word (kerning, see Home > Font > Font dialog > Advanced tab), as well as spacing between lines and paragraphs (Home > Paragraph > Paragraph dialog > Spacing section). Combine that with good use of Styles (worth the time to learn), and a few well chosen keyboard shortcuts, and you could be finishing in a fraction of the time...

Like I said, I don't know your situation, but, dollars to donuts, you're missing something. I know that your comment about "other languages" does not apply to French, Spanish, Italian, German, or English. If none of this meets your needs, perhaps an example would help us understand the situation and give a better answer.