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: Differences between Deleting, Clearing, and Cutting.
In most books you read about Word, and even in the Word documentation, you will see the terms delete, clear, and cut, each of which refers to an action you can do with text. These words are almost interchangeable, but there are subtle differences.
You can undo any of these actions by pressing Ctrl+Z. It should also be noted that cutting is normally done as a precursor to pasting to another location whatever it was that you cut. (You can paste the contents of the Clipboard—what you cut—by using the Paste tool on the Home tab of the ribbon or by pressing Ctrl+V.)
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (9193) 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: Differences between Deleting, Clearing, and Cutting.
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2018-03-29 08:43:44
Jennifer Thomas
Thank you Ashley -- when I read 'This is analogous to Clearing", I also thought "Not really ..." and that Clear drop down list is a very handy tool!
2014-07-23 01:15:18
M A Hameed
It will make life easier if you user a larger type sez for text of the Tip. As it is, it is difficult to read and one has to enlarge the type size. Why not save us this inconvenience by increasing the default type size.
2014-07-07 18:41:23
Ashley
There is actually an important difference between clear and delete: one can clear other things besides contents (formats, comments, hyperlinks, etc.).
I don't know if the default ribbons offer a clear pull-down box, but you can add one via File>Options>Customize Ribbon. Select "All Commands" in the "Choose commands from:" drop down box, then scroll down to "Clear ..." You will see there are six different "Clear..." buttons you can add, one of which is the "Clear >" drop down box.
Now, to test your new button, select some text with some sort of formatting and click on the new button. You should see a "Clear Formats" option as well as "Contents" (which is the same as deleting).
2014-07-06 15:52:33
Peter Kirkpatrick
Delete = "Use the Delete key" (hence the name). The selected item is removed.
Clear = "Remove the selected item." This may indeed be done using the Delete key (at which point Delete and Clear are synonyms) but can be done in other ways (eg in a macro)
2014-07-05 08:19:45
Kevin Dawson
I agree with Martin Andrew's comment
2014-07-05 04:50:45
Martin Andrew
It is not clear from the above what is the dfference between Delete and Clear. They both use the Del key.
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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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