Fast Way To Highlight Words, Sentences, Lines And More In Word
Q. I read there is a host of ways to highlight words, sentences, lines, paragraphs and even whole documents by clicking on certain places on the screen. Try as I might, I can’t do it. Is it like a secret handshake known only to insiders, or am I doing something wrong?
A. While it’s true there are undocumented processes in many Microsoft applications—as in other tools as well—your inability to make them work is not because you lack some secret information. Instead, perhaps you haven’t done the right thing yet. For example, before those clicking “tricks” can work, you have to inform Word of your preferences. To do that, go to Tools , Options and click on the Edit tab.
Notice in the middle of the screen, on the right side, a box marked When selecting, automatically select entire word. Place a check in it. Without that box marked, none of the screen clicking will work. Here are the clicking tricks. To select
A single word , double-click on it.
An entire paragraph , triple-click anywhere inside the paragraph or double-click on the left margin.
A sentence , hold down Ctrl and click on the sentence.
A line (all text in one line from left to right margin), single-click on the left margin.
An entire document , triple-click on the left margin or press Ctrl+A.
Another useful trick: To easily move an entire paragraph up or down, highlight it, press Alt+Shift and then either click on the up arrow (to move the paragraph up) or the down key (to move it down). And if you use automatic numbering, it even will adjust any existing numbers.
