Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007 and 2010. 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: Slowing Down Mouse Selection.
Have you ever noticed that there are times that text scrolls way too fast on your screen when you are trying to select it using the mouse? There are many ways you can attempt to slow down the speed at which text scrolls when you are using the mouse to select text. Perhaps the easiest is to use the keyboard in conjunction with the mouse. You do this by clicking the insertion point at the position where you want the selection to start, and then hold down the Shift key while you click where you want the selection to end.
However, if you don't want to use the keyboard, and only rely on the mouse, your options are a bit more limited. Perhaps the best idea is to get a mouse that has a scrolling wheel between the two buttons. Using the wheel you can scroll through a document at the speed you want.
Those who have used Word for a while know that there are actually two mouse-scrolling speeds in Word. To use the slower speed when selecting text, move the mouse down to the horizontal scrollbar area. This scrolls downward at a relatively moderate speed. Moving the mouse below the horizontal scrollbar sends the scrolling into full-speed mode. The "moderate speed" zone for scrolling upward is the ruler bar. The actual differences between these scroll speeds depends on the speed of your computer and how many other tasks your system is running.
The final option to try is to slow down the mouse speed using Windows itself. Display the Control Panel, and then open the Mouse applet. (How you access both the Control Panel and the Mouse applet will vary, depending on your version of Windows.) Within the Mouse applet, make sure the Motion tab is displayed. You can adjust the Pointer Speed setting on this tab so it is more toward the Slow side. When you close the applet by clicking on OK, you should notice that your mouse speed is a bit more manageable.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11696) applies to Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Slowing Down Mouse Selection.
Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!
Part of the job of an editor is to apply standards of grammar to text written by someone else. One standard that may need ...
Discover MoreNeed to quickly count a group of items in a document? Here's a drop-dead easy way to get that count.
Discover MoreNeed to quickly put some text into a document, even if that text is essentially meaningless? Here's how to put this type ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2016-03-18 08:04:47
Martin Janssen
None of these tips work if you select text in Column mode (holding down Alt key when selecting). While selecting in Column mode the scroll speed goes up like hell as soon as the mouse pointer reaches the scrolling region.
Also, you can not select columns using the shift click method.
2015-12-30 10:15:17
David Gardner
You can also click at the beginning of the text to be selected; drag the vertical scroll bar button down until you can see the end of the text to be selected. Press and hold the shift key down and click at the end of the text.
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.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2019 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007 and 2010. 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: 
Comments