Is there a shortcut for creating a new word document?

Is there a keyboard shortcut for creating a new Microsoft Word document? Like Ctrl Shift N creates a new folder?

• microsoft-word
• keyboard-shortcuts

5 Answers 5

There is a keyboard shortcut possible to create a Word document:

Windows 10 English version:

• Press the menu key
• Press W to select new
• Press M to select Microsoft word
• Press Enter to create the document

Shortcut keys to create document files in windows 10

To create MS Access Database

• Press the menu key
• Press W to select new
• Press M to select Microsoft Access Database
• Press Enter to create the document
• rename file
• Press Enter to complete the creation

To create Text Document

• Press the menu key
• Press W to select new
• Press T to create the text document
• rename file
• Press Enter to complete the creation

To create Winrar Archives

• Press the menu key
• Press W to select new
• Press to select Winrar Archives
• Press Enter to create the document
• rename file
• Press Enter to complete the creation

if you word document, then you can create a text or any kind of file from above them rename the extension to .docx

cause i don't find a specific shortcut for word document, so i create a txt file first , rename it to my desired file extension

I suggest using AutoHotKey which is a fantastic tool. You can access it here: https://www.autohotkey.com

Once you install the tool using this link: https://www.autohotkey.com/download/ahk-install.exe, you can start writing simple scripts to define your own shortcuts for any program or command in windows. For example I use:

Alt + W to create a New Word file, using the script below:

!w:: Run WINWORD.exe

Alt + E to create a New Excel file, using the script below:

To make your life easier so that the code is run every time you boot your laptop do this:

After you created a script, simply put it in your Windows Startup folder located at: C:*USER**\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Make sure you put your own username instead of the USER in the address above.

You can also use a tool in the AHK installed folder to generate simple .exe file out of your scripts!

I'd rather not install software to make this happen, since its possible with just windows 10. Thanks for your answer though.

Hey Kars, you are right. There is the built-in option to define hotkeys for programs’ shortcuts, however: 1) it only works for shortcuts 2) the shortcut should be located under Windows\Start Menu\Programs to work. The advantage of using AHK is that you can define hotkeys for any files or folder on your PC, and 1) it doesn’t need to be necessarily a shortcut file 2) doesn’t need to be located in the Programs folder under Start Menu. Please correct me if I am wrong. Thanks!

Here's how I'd do it: I'd create a standard Windows shortcut file in my Start Menu that points to the Word 'Normal' template*, and assign the desired Shortcut key to it. This will result in the user having to press just one key combination (as requested by the OP.)

Here's a step-by-step:

1. Open File Explorer and find the folder that contains your Normal template (that's the template Word uses to create a new document.) It's normally here: C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates (where %USERNAME% is your Windows username.)
2. Right click it and choose Copy
3. In a blank area of the same folder, right click and choose Paste shortcut
4. You might want to rename this shortcut something like, 'New Word Document' (if you double click this shortcut, you'll find it opens Word with a new, blank document loaded.)
5. Right click the newly created shortcut and choose Cut
6. Open your user 'Start Menu' folder. That's usually here: C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
7. Create a new folder there. I named mine, "Microsoft Office"
8. Paste the cut shortcut from step 5 into that folder
9. Right click it and choose Properties
10. Click inside 'Shortcut key'
11. Press the key combination you'd like to use to open a new Word document (the combination you use should appear inside the box - I think Windows will tweak it if you choose an combination that already exists, so check what appears in the box before moving on)
12. Press OK to close the box
13. To be on the safe side, log-off/on or restart your PC to ensure Word has noticed the new shortcut key combination

Pressing your shortcut combination should now launch Word with a blank document based on the Normal template.

*You could, of course, create the shortcut to Word itself if you wanted to see the Word start-up dashboard; or to a different template to open a document based on that.