Office 2000 Basics
Selecting Text
Introduction
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
- Select text
Selecting text
When creating a document, you might want to change the way text appears.
Before you can change the font style, size, or color, or replace or delete text, you must first select it.
Here's a quick rule of thumb:
- First select what you want to change.
- Then make your changes.
There are many different selection techniques. Soon you'll be selecting and manipulating text like an old pro!
First method: Click and drag to select text
- Move your pointer until the I-beam is next to the text you want to edit.
- Click the left mouse button.
- Without releasing the mouse button, drag the insertion point to select text.
- Release the left mouse button when you have selected the text you want to change.
Pros:
- Highlights letters, words, and even entire documents
- Offers a lot of control with individual letters, words, and phrases
Cons:
Lack of control may cause:
- Speedy selecting, which selects an entire document when you don't want it to
- Backward selecting, which ends up selecting text to the right when you want to select to the left and vice versa if the pointer moves slightly when you click
Second method: Use the pointer to select an entire line of text
To select a single line of text:
- Move the I-beam to the left margin until it becomes a right-slanted white pointer
. - Position the pointer to the left of the line you want to highlight.
- Click once to highlight a single line.
- Click and drag up or down to select as many lines as you want to edit.
Pros:
- Quick and easy
Cons:
- Selects the entire line of text when you may not want it to
- May take some practice to position the pointer correctly
Third method: Select All
Select All is a helpful feature.
To select an entire document:
- Choose Edit
Select All from the menu bar.
All of the text in your document will be selected instantly. Click anywhere outside selected text to deselect the text.
Pros:
- Great when you need to quickly select all text in a document (great for changing font style or size)
Cons:
- Selects all text
Fourth method: Use the keyboard
Many people use the keyboard to select text.
| Shift+right arrow | Character to the right of the insertion point |
| Shift+left arrow | Character to the left of the insertion point |
| Shift+Home | All current line to the left of insertion point |
| Shift+End | All current line to the right of insertion point |
| Shift+PgUp | A screenful of text from insertion point up |
| Shift+PgDn | A screenful of text from insertion point down |
| Ctrl+Shift+ Right Arrow | One word to the right of insertion point |
| Ctrl+Shift+ Left Arrow | One word to the left of insertion point |
| Crtl+Shift+Home | All text from insertion point to the beginning of document |
| Crtl+Shift+End | All text from insertion point to the end of document |
| Alt+Ctrl+Shift+PgDn | All text from insertion point to end of the displayed window |
| F8 and arrow key | From insertion point in the direction of whichever arrow is chosen; F8 turns on selection mode; press Esc to leave selection mode. |
| Crtl +A | Selects entire document |
Did you know?
Troubleshooting speedy selecting
When using the click-and-drag method to select text, have you ever selected a lot of text without meaning to? You've experienced speedy selecting.
What can you do to avoid this frustration?
- Use Select All in the Edit menu.
- Use the Shift key:
- Click once at the starting point of the text you desire to be selected.
- Hold down the Shift key on the keyboard while clicking once again at the ending point of the text you desire to be selected.
- The text in between these two points should be selected.
Keep in mind that when text is selected, pressing any key will delete it. The Undo button often comes in handy for this common mistake.