How to Select All Text in Word Documents

If you want to format text, add a link to it, or delete it from the document, you have to start by selecting that text. We’ll show you how to select all text in Word as well as specific portions of text.

How to Select All Text in Word

You can easily select all the text in your Microsoft Word document using keyboard shortcuts, your mouse or trackpad, and menu options.

The quickest way to select all text in Word is with the keyboard shortcutCtrl + Aon Windows orCommand + Aon Mac.

If you don’t like using keyboard shortcuts, you can also select all text in your document with your mouse or trackpad.

Place the cursor before the first word of the document, hold the mouse button or trackpad, and drag all the way through the last word. Release, and you’ll see alltext highlighted, which means it’s selected.

One final way to select all text is using these built-in menu options:

On Windows, go to theHometab, open theSelectmenu in the Editing group, and pickSelect All.

On Mac, go toEdit>Select Allin the menu bar.

How to Select Specific Text in Word

If it’s not all the text in your Word document you want to select but only a certain portion, you have a handful of ways to do this as well. This is ideal when you want toapply small capsto a word oradd a hyperlinkto a line.

You can easily drag through a word with your cursor to select it. Place your cursor before the first letter, hold your mouse button or trackpad, drag through the last letter, and release.

For a quicker way, simply double-click the word.

You can easily select more than one word if they’re next to each other by simply dragging through each one. However, you might want to select multiple words in different locations in the document.

Select the first word using the method above, holdCtrlorCommand, and select the second word.

Like a word, you can select a line of text by dragging from the first word through the last with your mouse or trackpad.

For a faster way, place your cursor at the start of the line and useShift + Down arrow. This keyboard shortcut works on both Windows and Mac.

You can select multiple lines just like words by dragging through each one, but what if they’re not adjacent to each other?

In this case, select the first line using a method above, holdCtrlorCommand, and click at the start of the second line.

As you’ve probably guessed, you can select a paragraph by dragging through it as well. Drag from the first word through the last word in the paragraph and release.

For a much quicker way, place your cursor at the start of the paragraph and useCtrl + Shift + Down arrowon Windows orCommand + Shift + Downarrowon Mac.

To select more than one paragraph, you can just drag through them like words and lines. However, for non-adjacent paragraphs, you’ll use a combination of actions.

Select the first paragraph using a method above, holdCtrlorCommand, and drag through the second paragraph.

Whether you want to select all text in Word, a portion of it, or a single word, you have various ways to do so. You can use whichever works best for you at the time.

For more, look at how tofind and replace text in Word documents.

Sandy Writtenhouse is a freelance technology writer and former Project, Department, and Program Manager. She turned her education, job experience, and love of technology into a full-time writing career. With all sorts of gadgets in her home and her hands, she seeks to help others make life easier through technology.Read Sandy’s Full Bio

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How to Select All Text in Word Documents#

How to Select All Text in Word#

How to Select Specific Text in Word#