See also
Show or hide formatting marks
To show formatting marks, on the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click Show/Hide
. Click the button again to hide formatting marks.
Move around a document and select text
Here are some of the ways to move the insertion point around a document and to select text.
To select text by using the mouse:
| To select |
Do this |
| Any amount of text |
Click where you want to begin the selection, hold down the left mouse button, and then drag the pointer over the text you want to select. |
| A word |
Double-click anywhere in the word. |
| A sentence |
Hold down CTRL, and then click anywhere in the sentence. |
| A paragraph |
Triple-click anywhere in the paragraph. |
| The entire document |
Move the pointer to the left of any text until it changes to a right-pointing arrow, and then triple-click. |
To select text by using the keyboard:
| To select |
Do this |
| A word from its beginning to its end |
Place the insertion point at the beginning of the word, and then press CTRL+SHIFT+RIGHT ARROW. |
| A sentence |
Place the insertion point at the beginning of the sentence, and then press CTRL+SHIFT+RIGHT ARROW (hold the CTRL and SHIFT keys down, and then press RIGHT ARROW until the entire sentence, including the period at the end, is selected). |
| A paragraph from its beginning to its end |
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the paragraph, and then press CTRL+SHIFT+DOWN ARROW. |
| The 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 a sentence, three times to select a paragraph, or four times to select the document. Press ESC to turn off selection mode. |
To move through your document:
| To move |
Press |
| One character to the left |
LEFT ARROW |
| One character to the right |
RIGHT ARROW |
| One word to the left |
CTRL+LEFT ARROW |
| One word to the right |
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW |
| Up one line |
UP ARROW |
| Down one line |
DOWN ARROW |
| One paragraph up |
CTRL+UP ARROW |
| One paragraph down |
CTRL+DOWN ARROW |
| To the beginning of a document |
CTRL+HOME |
| To the end of a document |
CTRL+END |
| Up one screen at a time |
PAGE UP |
| Down one screen at a time |
PAGE DOWN |
You can also move through a document by using the scroll bar. The scroll bar is on the right side of the window. To use it, click the scroll box on the scroll bar, and then drag it up or down to move through a document. Or click the single scroll arrows at either end of the scroll bar to move up or down.
Tip Try the Full Screen Reading view to see entire pages at one time and to flip between pages. Click the View tab. In the Document Views group, click Full Screen Reading. Click the Next Screen and Previous Screen arrows at the top of the window to go from page to page. To return to Print Layout view, click Close in the upper-right corner of the window.
Cut, Copy and Paste text
To copy text, select the text, and on the Ribbon at the top of the window, on the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy
; or press CTRL+C.
To paste the copied text, on the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Paste
; or press CTRL+V.
To delete text, select the text. Then press DELETE on your keyboard.
To move text (or to delete text), select the text. On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Cut
. Or use a keyboard shortcut to do the same thing, by pressing CTRL+X (think of the X as a scissor).
To paste the text in another location, place the insertion point where you want the text to go, and then, on the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Paste
; or press CTRL+V.
To undo an action, on the Quick Access Toolbar
at the top left of the window, press Undo
, or press CTRL+Z.
Tip If you don't like the change you made with Undo, click CTRL+Y until the text is back to where it was.
