I dont know if i do this right, but i wanted to be able to swap between sword/shield and long bow.
So i assigned quick key 1 to longbow, key 2 to sword, key 3 to shield.

Now if i click key 2 in game it activates or deactivate my sword. Same goes for the shield.
The bow however loses its quick key. Clicking 1 activates bow, clicking 1 again deactivates bow, clicking 1 again nothing happens.
Opening the Favorite menu i see that sword and shield got their quick keys, but next to the longbow its nothing. It lost the quick key.

is there an easier way of swapping weapons between ranged and melee?

It may not be possible, but it would be nice if they would just revert to standard weapon selection the way it's been done for decades.

Is it the hunters bow? I had this problem. It happens when you have more then one of the quick keyed item. Sell or store or drop the extra bow, and it will work normal and not take itself off.

sweet thx