Setting Word Selection Preferences

From time to time, a new feature comes along that has the unique distinction of being both a curse and a blessing. The way Word handles text selection – automatically selecting the entire word when only part of it is highlighted with the cursor – is one of those features. It can save you some time and prevent you from leaving part of a word when you intend to delete the whole thing, but it becomes cumbersome when you wish to select only part of a word. Fortunately, you can weigh your choices and decide if you want Word to select automatically the entire word or if you want Word to allow you to select only part of a word.

1. From the Tools menu, select Options
2. Click on the Edit tab
3. Under editing options select or deselect When selecting, automatically select entire word
4. Click OK