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(Credit: Microsoft)
It’s always easier to press a key combination than to navigate a menu for what you want. I want the old-style Find and Replace dialog when I press Ctrl-F (on a Mac, Cmd-F), not the new Navigation toolbar. Here’s how I got it back. You can use the same technique to assign keyboard shortcuts for almost anything in Word.
In Windows, use File > Options > Customize Ribbon, and click the Customize… button next to Keyboard Shortcuts. On a Mac, choose Tools > Customize Keyboard. In the keyboard-customizing dialog, in the left-hand box, under Categories, scroll down to All Commands. From the right-hand list, select EditFind. Move the cursor into the Press New Shortcut Key field and type Ctrl-F. The dialog will tell you that this key is currently assigned to SmartFind, which is Word’s internal command that opens the Navigation pane. Click Assign, then Close, then OK, and you can use Ctrl-F to open the full-featured Find and Replace dialog. If you want to use the Navigation pane, you can open it from the Editing box on the Home tab in the Ribbon, or you can assign another keystroke to it, using the same technique described here.