Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 365. 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: Replacing Text Selections.
By default, if you have selected some text and then press any key except a cursor control key, the selected text is replaced with what you type. This can be annoying, especially if this behavior does not match what you are familiar with in another word processor. To disable this aspect of Word, follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Advanced options in 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 (8959) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Replacing Text Selections.
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2015-01-27 17:05:24
Gerri Carter
I am trying to do a transparency for a t-shirt. I need to mirror the text so that it can be read once ironed onto the shirt.
I have Word 2010 professional but for the life of me I can no longer perform this simply task. Please help.
2013-11-30 04:52:01
Surendera M. Bhanot
One should not be scared of deletion (by overwriting) the selected text. Rather one should get used to it. It is rather a privilage that one does not have to first delete and then insert new text.
If by mistake the selected text is deleted, one can always get it back by pressing ^y (undo).
Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 365. 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: 
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