Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 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: Selecting the Entire Document with the Mouse.

Selecting the Entire Document with the Mouse

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 23, 2024)

If you need to select the entire document, Word makes it easy using the keyboard—just press Ctrl+A. If you are using the mouse and you don't want to let it go to use the keyboard, you may wonder if there is a way to select it all using the mouse.

Well, sort of. This mouse-based method still relies on pressing a key in order to do the trick:

Move the mouse pointer to the left of the paragraphs in your document. (Make sure you don't click the mouse yet.) The pointer changes to an arrow pointing up and to the right.
Hold down the Ctrl key.
Click the left mouse button.

Another way to do this is to simply triple-click the left mouse button after step 1.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12392) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Selecting the Entire Document with the Mouse.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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