I'm trying to execute word's "Save All" command to save every working document at an interval. I've set (in Word's preferences) a keyboard shortcut to execute the command (it isn't in the toolbar menu, and can't be put there.)
When I try it, nothing happens. Any ideas?
If you haven't already done so, first see Troubleshooting [Keyboard Maestro Wiki], especially, in this case, the heading "Situation #5 -- If a Macro “Does Nothing”" and the section below it on how to use the Interactive Help Wizard.
I don't have a version of Word with the Save All command, but two alternative approaches come to mind:
Rather than using Keyboard Maestro to simulate a keystroke, try using the action called Select Or Show A Menu Item to have it select Save All.
Instead of setting the keyboard shortcut in Word, try setting it in Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts.
Your setup, and the macro itself, looks good -- perhaps it's the trigger?
Add a hotkey trigger, switch to Word, edit a document, use the hotkey combo. Does the document save?
Unfortunately, "Save All" doesn't appear in the menus–it's a command that you can access via a keyboard shortcut (what I'm doing) or the "ribbon," which I don't think KM can access (which also means I can't make a shortcut to the command in the Mac OS keyboard settings, as far as I can tell.)
I did find this in this forum:
Which only auto-saves the frontmost document, not exactly what I want, but a functional workaround.
Thank you.
I haven't used Word in a while, but doesn't it have an auto-save function built in that you can set for x-minute intervals?
Regarding saving files, Ms-Word works differently for files stored online (eg, Onedrive) vs files stored locally. I think @Soulbarn should clarify which kind of files he wants this macro to work for.
If it's for local files, then he should check Word's Preferences for a setting called auto recover which defaults to 10 minute auto-saves.
Disclosure: I used ChatGPT to learn about this.
I recreated your macro, and it works for me. I tested it triggering every 1 second, so I interrupted the hotkey coming from the macro a few times while I was typing.
I don't suppose you checked the Keyboard Maestro engine log? Does the hotkey work when you use it in Word manually? If not, did you double-check that your assigned hotkey matches the hotkey you're sending from KM? Is Word always the frontmost app when you expect it to run?
If all else fails, there's always Click at Found Image.
I think this keyboard shortcut conflicts with any typing activity that is going on. I think it’s better to use AppleScript.
