How to add a shortcut in OneNote 2013

keyboard shortcutsmicrosoft-officemicrosoft-onenote

In Word 2013, I can use Alt+= to open a new equation-editing textbox. As I have the Swiss keyboard layout, I actually press Alt+Shift+0 (zero) to achieve that.
This is a bit more complicated to press, but at least it works.

When I hover over the "Insert->Formula" button in OneNote,
it tells me that the shortcut is Alt+Entf:

"Entf" is short for "Entfernen" which is German for "remove" or "delete".
Unfortunately, Alt+Delete does nothing at all
in OneNote (and Alt+Shift+0
doesn't do anything either).

So I Googled. For Word, there are many tutorials how to change keyboard shortcuts: File -> Options -> Customize Ribbon -> some button

In OneNote, the settings are exactly the same – except for the fact that that button is not there…

I now need a way to add or edit the shortcuts of OneNote. I wouldn't mind if it is a hacky solution like a registry edit.

EDIT: Simulating Alt+= using AutoHotkey does not help.

Best Answer

I’m a U.S. English user, and I don’t have OneNote (and I’ve never used it), so my contribution may not be valuable to you. But many programs — including most Microsoft programs, or at least most Microsoft Office programs, or at least most Microsoft programs that have a ribbon — have a way of navigating the ribbon to get to the functions quickly using the keyboard. This capability implies a set of keyboard shortcuts that are hidden in plain sight.

For example, in Word, if I press Alt (and either release it, or hold it for a second), I get this:

Note that the ribbon tabs are labeled with letters:

F = File
H = Home
N = Insert
G = Design
P = Page Layout
⋮

and the buttons on the Quick Access Toolbar (Save, Undo, Redo, …) are labeled with numerals.

If I press N, for INSERT, I get this

Note this detail from the right end:

So, in U.S. English Microsoft Word, Alt, N, E is a hidden keyboard shortcut for Insert Equation. You can type this any of the following ways:

Press and release Alt, press and release N, press and release E
Press and hold Alt, press and release N, release Alt, press and release E, or
Press and hold Alt, press and release N, press and release E, release Alt

and, once you have released the Alt key, you can use Shift, or not, as you prefer. So you can

Press and release Alt, then type n and e
Press and release Alt, then type n and E
Press and release Alt, then type N and e
Press and release Alt, then type N and E
etc.

So experiment with Alt in your version of OneNote and see what you find. (As noted, OneNote is different from Word, and these shortcuts may be language-dependent.)

Another approach is to add Insert Equation to the Quick Access Toolbar. Then you will be able to use Alt+4, or whatever, depending on how many other items you have in your Quick Access Toolbar.

Related Solutions

Microsoft Excel – How to Customize Keyboard Shortcuts in Excel 2010

There are 3 different kinds of keyboard shortcuts I know of:

Ones like Ctrl-C for Copy
Ones like Alt-E-S-V for Edit > Paste Special > Values
A shortcut key combo you assign to your own macro

With # 1 I think only Word allows you to change these, e.g., you can change the shortcut for Bold from Ctrl-B to something else. I don't think Excel has ever allowed you to do this. Of course you can write a macro in Excel that changes the Bold property and then assign a keyboard shortcut to it, but that really falls under #3 above.

You use to be able to do #2 in Excel by going into Tools > Customize and then changing the location of the ampersand. For example you could change the name of the Edit menu from &Edit to &Zdit and the shortcut sequence in #2 above would be changed to Alt-Z-S-V. The only way I know to do this now would be to change the toolbar name in VBA (the old toolbars, File, Edit, etc. still exist behind the scenes in Excel 2007 and 2010 and can be accessed via code).

With #3 it's still the same as it was in earlier versions, just go into the Macro dialog and change the shortcut in Options. You only have the choice of Ctrl and one key, I believe. With VBA you can actually create longer combos like Ctrl-Shft-N (one of my favorites).

I hope that helps.

Any way to change the fontsize shortcut in Microsoft OneNote

Using AutoHotkey:

#if WinActive("ahk_exe ONENOTE.EXE")
^NumpadAdd::^+.
^NumpadSub::^+,
#if

If you don't want to use + and - keys on a numerical keyboard replace NumpadAdd with = and NumpadSub with - (assuming you have an EN keyboard layout and want to use the keys next to backspace).

The ^ stands for Ctrl, + for Shift and ! would stand for Alt if you want to modify the hotkeys (more info on special modifiers).

Complex explanation

I'm a bit of an AutoHotkey nerd, because I encounter these types of issues often in my own workflow and couldn't help myself not to explain how the language works here. In case anybody wants to delve into the deep waters, here you go:

The < > and + key problem:

For me the < and > keys normally act (without the Shift and Control) as a dot . and comma , and + acts as =, and that is also the proper way to write them into the script. Another possible reason for why a version of the script with these keys wouldn't trigger is because the <, > and + are special modifier symbols. In case normal key names don't work at all, there are also special virtual key IDs {vk##} and scan codes {sc##} which can be used instead and figured out using KeyHistory. There is a bit more complexity and preparation to this last part, example here.

The window detection:

Additionally a better way to approach the window title in WinActive in this case may be to refer to the .exe directly using ahk_exe [app_name_goes_here].exe. Name of the OneNote executable may differ in other editions (I'm using OneNote 2016). You can figure it out using WindowSpy.ahk (which is an app that should be a part of every AutoHotkey installation (you will find it in the AutoHotkey folder)) or by looking for the OneNote executable in the task manager.

Proper use of WinActive in this case:

In order to not disrupt the new hotkey combination (^NumpadAdd + ^NumpadSub) added using the script in other apps it's important to make them context-sensitive using #If, which has to be positioned above these hotkey declarations. If you want to expand the script with non-context-sensitive code underneath, it's important to turn the context-sensitivity off using an empty #If statement.

One-line hotkeys and no need for Send/SendInput:

If the hotkey is simple enough that it fits into one line, it doesn't need to return and doesn't even need to use Send or SendInput. This can however prove tricky if you need to use specially named keys such as NumpadAdd which would in Send be written with {} around them. (example Send {NumpadAdd})

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Microsoft Excel – How to Customize Keyboard Shortcuts in Excel 2010

Any way to change the fontsize shortcut in Microsoft OneNote

Complex explanation

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