Select Large Blocks of Text with Microsoft Word
More Effective Methods for Selecting Large Text Blocks in MS Word
Aug 27, 2009
The standard text selection method used in Microsoft Word is to:
- Place the mouse at the beginning of the text to be selected
- Press the left mouse button
- Drag to the end of the selection.
This works well for short text selections. Using this method for longer text blocks can cause the user considerable frustration. First he goes several screens too far then comes back too many screens then too far... And so it goes.
Selecting Everything
A user creates a 20-page report on his home computer using Microsoft Word. The default font is Ariel. When he gets to work he realizes company policy requires all reports to be printed using Times New Roman. There are two methods he can use to quickly select the entire document and then change the font.
Method 1
- Move the mouse into the left margin until it changes to a right-pointing arrow
- Triple click
- Change the text to the desired font.
Method 2
- Press Control + A.
- Change the text to the desired font.
Using the Shift Click Method for Large Text Blocks
A student types a paper for a class titled, “The Tragedies of William Shakespeare.” She enters several pages of dialog from the play to demonstrate a point. When she finishes her paper she realizes the format for the two pages of dialog needs to have the margins indented a half inch from each side and spacing should be single instead of double.
- Place the cursor at the beginning of the text to be selected and click the left mouse button once and release.
- Use the scroll bar or the scroll wheel of the mouse to scroll to the end of the dialog.
- While holding the Shift key, position the mouse pointer at the end point of the desired text block
- Click to select the entire block.
- Change the margins and change the line spacing.
Selecting Almost Everything
After typing the sales proposal, a sales rep has adjusted the title and heading information of the document. Now she needs to change:
- Line spacing to single space
- First line of each paragraph indented a half inch
- One blank line between paragraphs
- The font to Times New Roman
To select all of the text
- Place the cursor at the beginning of the first paragraph
- Hold the Shift and Control keys down and press the End key
- Make the desired changes
This selects all text from the starting cursor position to the end of the document. You can use a similar technique for selecting several contiguous paragraphs as well. Instead of Shift + Control + End use Shift + Control + (Down Arrow or Up Arrow).
Selecting Non Contiguous Text Blocks
NOTE: This feature may not be available on older versions of MS Word.
The focus so far has been with contiguous text blocks. The text has been an uninterrupted block. Now we have another student who has written a paper and peppered the text with shorter but multiple quotations. These quotes must follow the same rules as the previous assignment. Here are the steps he will follow:
- Place the mouse pointer and select the first quote with the traditional press and drag technique.
- Release the mouse button.
- Using the scroll bar or scroll wheel position the mouse pointer at the beginning of the next quotation.
- Press the Control key and select the quote using the mouse press and drag.
- Continue this process until all the quotes have been selected.
- Change the margins and spacing.
Using the mouse press and drag technique exclusively to select text can be tedious and time consuming. By using the methods above, the process of selecting text can be streamlined.
Related Article:
Format Painter in Microsoft Word
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