Excel 2010 Short Cut Problem: Cannot Make Ctrl + Shift + Q! Please Help!

[alexcel]

Hey guys,

I have a very weird problem re using a specific short cut to call a macro within Excel. I posted on a different site but got little help.

I have been really puzzled by this problem. Please help me out.

In my office, we have a macro (let's call it macro A) that everybody needs to run and it has been associated with "Ctrl + Shift + Q". I have been using it for over 1 year after updating to Excel 2010 and never had a problem.

However, one week ago, it stopped working. Now, when I do "Ctrl + Shift + Q" nothing happens.

Trying to figure out the problem, I have tried a lot of ways and found:

1. If I associate the same macro A to "Ctrl + Shift + W", it will work. So it feels like there is nothing wrong with the macro A.
2. If I create a new workbook which contains nothing. Then, add a dummy macro like
sub Dummy()
msgbox "Hello!"
end sub

and associate "Ctrl + Shift + Q" to Dummy(). Then clicking "Ctrl + Shift + Q" will again lead to NOTHING.

3. I tested my keyboard, everything is fine. Also, since in Excel I can associate a macro with "Ctrl + Shift + Q", it also suggests the keys should work.

4. With the same workbook, if my colleagues opened it and test "Ctrl + Shift + Q", it worked perfectly fine (i.e. the right macro gets called). However, today, one of my colleagues got the same syndrome with me while others are still doing fine with "Ctrl + Shift + Q".

So I really cannot think of a way to solve the problem. Could you guys PLEASE PLEASE help? Thanks!

 

[RoryA]

Do you have any other programs running that might use Ctrl+Shift+Q as a shortcut combination?

 

[alexcel]

Rory,

Thank you very much for the response.

I don't think there is anything else using "Ctrl + Shift + Q". In Excel, clearly on the developer tab, the desired macro A is associated with "Ctrl + Shift + Q" and the syndrome is there even if I only have the desired single workbook open.

Just in case I ignored anything, how do I find out if "Ctrl + Shift + Q" is associated with any other program? When I click "Ctrl + Shift + Q", nothing happens...

 

[RoryA]

First off, open Excel in Safe Mode (hold down Ctrl key while opening the program normally and answer Yes to the prompt) then open your workbook and try the shortcut again. If it works, then a startup file in Excel is overriding the key combination.
If not, then I suspect some other program (eg a screen capture, or clipboard monitor) is using it. What other programs do you have that the other users may not?

 

[RoryA]

First off, open Excel in Safe Mode (hold down Ctrl key while opening the program normally and answer Yes to the prompt) then open your workbook and try the shortcut again. If it works, then a startup file in Excel is overriding the key combination.
If not, then I suspect some other program (eg a screen capture, or clipboard monitor) is using it. What other programs do you have that the other users may not?

 

[alexcel]

Hey Rory,

Following your advice, I noticed that my Excel can recognize the hot key combination of "Ctrl + Shift + Q" under safe mode (It doesn't literally run the corresponding macro tho because I guess in safe mode macros are banned).

But this is enough an indication that one of the add-ins is causing the problem. Then through several tries enabling and disabling various add-ins, it boiled down to the Bloomberg Office Tools.

IMO, Bloomberg Office Tools is a XLL add-in. As a result, it is overriding the Ctrl +Shift + Q without letting the macro manager know. Adding insult to injury, Bloomberg Office Tools is updated automatically however it doesn't update all users all together. That is why people in my office are being hit 1 by 1 on different days.

Fortunately, Bloomberg Office Tools have a hotkey manager to manage all the short cuts. Simply disabling Ctrl + Shift + Q there will get the problem solved.

To my surprise tho, when I informed Bloomberg re the issue trying to let them come up with a smarter design such that other users wouldn't be affected, they sounded like it was my fault and they could not take into user defined macros into consideration. Anyway...

Thank you very much for your help!!! I feel so great to get the issue behind myself.

 

[RoryA]

Glad to help.

To be fair to Bloomberg, I think they are in a no-win situation. If they allowed user-shortcuts to override their settings, someone else would complain that their add-in didn't work properly. They just chose the option that led to fewer support calls for them.