Word – Selecting text

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Word – Selecting text

May 14, 2015 Leave a commentMicrosoft, TrainingBy Gary Colclough

There are a number of different ways to select text in Word, these options are explained in more detail below.

To select	Method (mouse)
Any amount of text	Click where you want to start the selection, hold down the left mouse key and drag over the text that you want to select
A word	Double click anywhere in the word
A line of text	Move the pointer to the left of the line until it changes to a right pointing arrow and then click
A sentence	Hold down the CTRL key and click anywhere in the sentence.
A paragraph	Triple click anywhere in the paragraph
Multiple paragraphs	Move the pointer to the left of the first paragraph until it changes to a right facing arrow
A large block of text	Click at the start of the selection, scroll to the end of the selection, hold down the SHIFT key and click where you want the selection to end
An entire document	Move the pointer to the left of any text until it changes to right facing arrow and then triple click.
Text boxes	Move the pointer over the border of a text box until the pointer changes to a four headed arrow and then click.
To select	Method (keyboard)
One character to the right of the cursor	Press SHIFT+Right Arrow
One character to the right of the cursor	Press SHIFT+Left Arrow
A word from beginning to end	Position the cursor at the beginning of the word and then press CTRL+SHIFT+Right Arrow
A word from beginning to end	Move the pointer to the end of the word and press CTRL+SHIFT+Left Arrow
A line from beginning to end	Press HOME to move to the start of the line and then press SHIFT+END
A line from end to beginning	Press END to move to the end of the line and then press SHIFT+HOME
One line down	Press END to move to the end of the line and then press SHIFT+Down Arrow
One line up	Press HOME to move to the end of the line and then press SHIFT+Up Arrow
A paragraph from beginning to end	Move the pointer to the beginning of the paragraph and then press CTRL+SHIFT+Down Arrow
A paragraph from end to beginning	Move the pointer to the end of the paragraph and then press CTRL+SHIFT+Up Arrow
A document from end to beginning	Move the pointer to the end of the document and then press CTRL+SHIFT+HOME
A document from beginning to end	Move the pointer to the beginning of the document and then press CTRL+SHIFT+END
To select	Method (keyboard)
An entire document	Press CTRL+A
A word, a sentence, a paragraph or a document	Press F8 to turn on selection mode and then press F8 once to select a word, twice to select sentence, three times to select a paragraph and four times to select and entire document. Press F8 again to turn off selection mode.
Selecting text in Tables
To select	Method (mouse)
Contents of a cell	Click anywhere into the cell. Under Table Tools, click the Layout tab and then in the Table section click Select, Select Cell.
Contents of a row	Click anywhere in the row. Under Table Tools, click the Layout tab and then in the Table section click Select, Select Row.
Contents of a column	Click anywhere in the column. Under Table Tools, click the Layout tab and then in the Table section click Select, Select Column.
Contents of multiple rows or columns	Click into a cell, row or column and then hold down the left mouse button whilst dragging across the adjacent cells, rows or columns that you want to select. If the cells, rows or columns are not adjacent hold down the CTRL key and then click the additional cells, rows or columns that you want to select.
An entire table	Click anywhere in the table. Under Table Tools, click the Layout tab and then in the Table section click Select, Select Table.
To select	Method (keyboard)
Contents of a cell to the right	Press TAB
Contents of a cell to the right	Press SHIFT+TAB
Contents of adjacent cells	Hold down the SHIFT key whilst pressing the up, down, left or right key repeatedly until all cells have been selected.
Contents of a column	Click into the first or last cell in a column, hold down the SHIFT key whilst press the up or down arrow key repeatedly until the entire column is selected
Contents of an entire table	Click anywhere in a table and press ALT+5 on the number keypad (right hand side of the keyboard) with NUM LOCK off