Carol's Corner Office

I have received many inquiries regarding MS Word’s behavior when trying to select text from the middle of one word to the middle of the next word while editing a document.

When you are trying to select text in the manner above, MS Word tries to figure out what you are trying to accomplish and then complete your task for you.  This can be very frustrating because whenever you click inside a word and start to drag your mouse over it, Word assumes that you want to select the entire word that you clicked.

To disable that assumption on MS Word’s part, follow the steps below:

Versions 2007 – 2010:

1. In version 2007, click Office Button | Word Options, and in version 2010, display the File tab of your Ribbon and click Options to display the Word Options dialog box.
2. Click Advanced at the left-hand side of your screen.
3. In the Editing Options area, be certain the When Selecting, Automatically Select Entire Word check box is cleared.
4. Click on OK.

Versions 97, 2000, 2002, 2003:

1. Click on Tools | Options to display the Options dialog box.
2. Be certain the Edit tab is displayed.
3. Make certain the When Selecting, Automatically Select Entire Word check box is cleared.
4. Click on OK.