Use Spike to Cut and Paste Multiple Text Items in Word
A nifty and useful feature you may not know about
There is a little known feature in word that allows you to gather groups of text and/or graphics from different locations in a Word document and then paste all of that text into another location.
It is called theSpikeand it is different in than the Clipboard, which allows you work with only one copied set of text at a time. TheSpikeis named after an old-fashioned paper holder onto which people poked papers as they were done with them. You may still see the old-fashioned version of theSpikein use in some retail stores.
NOTE:TheSpikefeature is available in versions of Word from 97 through 2016.
How to Use Spike in Word
To gather information into theSpikein Word, simply select the text you want to add and pressCtrl + F3. This cuts the information from your document and places it into theSpike. You can continue to cut parts of your document and Word will continue to add the cut text to theSpike.
NOTE:When you use theSpike, you are cutting or removing text from its original location, NOT copying text.
To paste the collected text, place the insertion point at the location in the current document, a new document, or another existing document where you want to paste the text. PressCtrl + Shift + F3to paste the text from theSpikeat the insertion point. All the information in theSpike(not just the last text you cut into there) is pasted into your document at the insertion point.
PressingCtrl + Shift + F3also erases all the information in theSpike. If you don’t want to clear theSpikewhen you paste the contents of it, place the insertion point where you want to paste the contents, type “spike” (without the quotes), and pressF3.
You can also view the contents of theSpikewithout pasting the contents or emptying theSpike. To do this in Word 2007 and later, click theInserttab on the ribbon and find theQuick Partsbutton in theTextsection.
Click the arrow on theQuick Partsbutton and selectBuilding Blocks Organizer, if you are using Word 2007, orAutoText, if you are using Word 2010, from the drop-down menu.
In Word 2007, theBuilding Blocks Organizerdialog box displays. Click theSpikein the list on the left to display a preview of the text and/or graphics theSpikecurrently contains.
To view the contents of theSpike, if you are using Word 2003 or earlier, selectAutoText | AutoTextfrom theInsertmenu.
TheAutoCorrectdialog box displays. On theAutoTexttab, type “spike” (without the quotes) in theEnter AutoText entries hereedit box to quickly find theSpikein the list. TheSpikeis automatically selected once it is found and you can see the contents of theSpikein thePreviewbox below the list of AutoText entries.
You may have noticed that when you pasted the contents of theSpike, there was an extra blank line between each item you added to theSpike. That’s due toSmart Paragraph Selection.
WithSmart Paragraph Selectionenabled, it’s impossible to select a paragraph without grabbing that final paragraph mark as well. You might want to turn offSmart Paragraph Selectionto avoid creating blank lines between each of the items on theSpike. To do this in Word 2007, selectWord Optionsfrom theOfficemenu.
On theWord Optionsdialog box, clickAdvancedin the list on the left.
In theEditing optionssection on the right, select theUse smart paragraph selectioncheck box so there is no check mark in the check box.
ClickOKto close theWord Optionsdialog box.
To turn offSmart Paragraph Selectionin Word 2003 or earlier, selectOptionsfrom theToolsmenu.
On theOptionsdialog box, click theEdittab. In theEditing optionssection, select theUse smart paragraph selectioncheck box so there is no check mark in the check box.
ClickOKto close theOptionsdialog box.
TheSpikeis a useful feature if you need to quickly and easily rearrange and move non-contiguous text or create a new document from pieces of another document. Enjoy!
Founder of Help Desk Geek and managing editor. He began blogging in 2007 and quit his job in 2010 to blog full-time. He has over 15 years of industry experience in IT and holds several technical certifications.Read Aseem’s Full Bio
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