Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Understanding Click and Type.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 14, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021
Word includes a feature known simply as Click and Type. This feature means that when you are working in Print Layout view or Web Layout view, you can double-click your mouse in any open area of your document (where there isn't text) and begin typing right away.
Normally, you begin typing at the left side of the screen. If you later want to adjust your text to the right margin or center it on the screen, you do so by using the tools on the various ribbon tabs. Click and Type, however, allows you to quickly format and enter text at the same time. The result is faster editing and formatting.
You can tell if Click and Type is active by how the mouse pointer behaves on screen. If the mouse pointer, when moving within the document window, looks like a simple I-beam insertion pointer, then Click and Type is not turned on. If, instead, it looks like an I-beam with some horizontal lines nearby, then Click and Type is active and ready. These lines indicate the formatting of the text that you can insert. There are four possibilities:
Remember that Click and Type only works if you are viewing your document in Print Layout view or in Web Layout view.
If you don't like or don't use the Click and Type, you may want to turn it off. You can do this by following these steps:
Figure 1. The Editing area of the Word Options dialog box.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (5999) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Understanding Click and Type.
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When you use the Click and Type feature, Word uses applies the Normal style to the paragraph created. You can specify a ...
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2022-06-03 09:15:03
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Great tip! I knew about click and type, but I didn't realize that it could set centered, first line indent, or right alignment.
Thank you!
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