Macro

In the World of Warcraft, a macro is grouping of several slash commands that execute together when you click a button. At any time, you can have 120 macros that are available to all your characters on all servers within one account, and 18 other macros that are available to each specific character, for a total of 138 macros that each character has access to; since version 3.0, those "native" macros may be stored server-side. Additionally, addons may enable you to specify and use additional macros.

A macro may also refer to some automated method (programmed keystrokes and/or mouse movements) to fight or repeat some action. Macros, if performed outside of the standard game client may be considered cheating. Don't be afraid though: Everything you can do with in-game macros is ok.

In the navigation box at the top right of this page, you will find links to macros deemed useful by the community for specific classes, as well as more general information concerning macro creation. The UI Beginners Guide may be a good place to start if you require a general introduction to the area; more macro-specific information can be found at Macro API.

Editing macros outside of WoW
Note: Macros are now held on the servers so this method may no longer have the desired effect. You can edit macros outside of the game by editing the  and   files, containing account-wide and per-character macros respectively. Note that the macros should probably be numbered starting with 1 and continue to 36 on the account-wide macros; and starting with 16777217 and continue to 16777234 for your character-specific macros. They don't need to be in order from the beginning of the file. It is probably best to save at least one account-wide and one character-specific macro in the game before you create your own macro file, to be familiar with macro file structure and to be sure of the numbering of macros. When editing your macros outside the game, be sure to use a simple text editor that can save in the format, otherwise, you may run into formatting/character issues.

Archived

 * Macro (1.0): a collection of various macros that were usable in vanilla WoW.