Click and drag to select specific text

Question

Click and drag to select specific text

Anonymous

So recently I have been having some trouble with features on Microsoft word. The system is up to date and running fine on a MacBook Pro. The drag to select specific text feature is not working for me anymore. I used to be able to click where I wanted and drag my mouse to select a certain text. Now all I can do is double click for some words or triple click for the paragraph. This is an important feature I use daily and i'm not sure why it isn't available anymore.

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2 answers

Answer 1

Anonymous

Dear Arin,

Have your referred to the reply shared by Bob MVP? Please feel free to post back to us when you have free time.

Thanks,
Mia

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Answer 2

Have you tried simply restarting the Mac? If that doesn't clear it up...

Due to the way Microsoft & Apple are doing things "up to date" doesn't mean very much :-) Please provide the specific Version of Office as indicated in Word> About Microsoft Word as well as indicating the exact version of macOS as indicated in **> About This Mac**. Causes & cures can vary based on those specifications.

Additionally, do you have any add-ins [such as Grammarly]?

Some alternative selection techniques to consider:

Click at the start, scroll if necessary, then hold Shift while you click at the end of the passage
To select a word double-click the word
To select an entire sentence beginning to end hold the Command key while clicking anywhere in the sentence.
To select an entire paragraph triple-click anywhere within it

All of the above can be extended on the same basis by using the Shift-Click method. E.g., Command-click a sentence then Shift-click in another to include it as well as all sentences in between.

The left margin is a selection area as well:

Click to the left of a line to select the line
Double-click to select the adjacent paragraph
Triple-click or Command-click to Select All
Drag down (or up) in the margin to select line-by-line

Unfortunately, dragging is the first & only method most users pick up on their own, so that's what they're most comfortable with. Introducing other methods may seem awkward at first but soon become second nature.