Working with the Mouse

1.

Basic Mouse Skill: Position the insertion point where you want to begin selecting. Hold down the left mouse button and drag to the end of the text you want to select. Release the mouse button.

2.

Mouse Shortcuts: These are my favorite shortcuts. I encourage you to try them.

To select a word, double-click the word.

To select a sentence, hold down the Control key on the keyboard and click in the sentence.

To select a large amount of text, click where you want the selection to begin. Hold down Shift, and click where you want the selection to end.

3.

Other Mouse Tricks: The area to the left of the text on the screen is called the selection bar. When you move the mouse into that area, the mouse pointer turns into an arrow that points toward the text. The selection bar is a very quick way to select text. For example:

To select a line of text, position the mouse pointer in the selection bar and click.

To select several lines of text, position the mouse pointer in the selection bar and drag up or down.

To select a paragraph, position the mouse pointer in the selection bar and double-click.

To select the entire document, hold down the Control key, and click in the selection bar.

4.

Basic Keyboard Skill: Hold down the Shift key and press the arrow keys to select the text you want. This method works for any amount of text, but it’s most efficient when you want to select a small amount of text and keep your hands on the keyboard.

5.

Keyboard Speed Method: Place the insertion point at the beginning of the text you want to select. Press the F8 key. An abbreviation for “extend” appears at the bottom of the screen to show that Word is in extend mode. Now every time you press the F8 key, Word selects more text¾ first a word, then a sentence, then a paragraph¾ until the entire document is selected. If you need to make the selection smaller, press Shift and F8. To cancel a selection, press the Escape key, and then press an arrow key.