Formatting+Palette+Fix

If you are working with Microsoft Word on a Mac computer they have a wonderful tool called the Formatting Palette where you can get access to all the various editing tools in one location. Unfortunately it sometimes goes flying off the screen when you open it and makes it impossible to use. I’m not sure what causes the Formatting Palette to go flying off the screen but here is how to fix it. You will need to use the Visual Basic Editor (VBE) feature in Microsoft Word to reposition the Formatting Palette on your screen. Don’t worry if you have never worked with VBE, just follow the instructions and you won’t have any problems… 1. Open the VBE by holding down the “option” key and pressing “F11” once. (You could also click on Tools --> Macro --> Visual Basic Editor) 2. Next you will need to open the “Immediate” window. This can be done by holding down the “apple” key and pressing “g” once. (You could also click on View --> Immediate Window) 3. Copy and paste (or type) the following three lines into the “Immediate” window…

Application.Commandbars("Formatting Palette").Position = msoBarFloating

Application.CommandBars("Formatting Palette").Top = 100

Application.CommandBars("Formatting Palette").Left = 100

… make sure you press the return key after each line. Even if you copy and paste all three lines at once you will still need to click at the end of each line (even the last line) and press return once. 4. Hold down the “option” key and press “F11” once to exit the VBE. (You could also click once on the Word button in the Standard Toolbar at the top of the screen) 5. If everything went correctly, when you open the Formatting Palette it should appear 100 pixels below the top of the screen and 100 pixels to the right of the left side of the screen. Feel free to drag it to a more convenient location.