Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 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 17, 2018)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365

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, 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...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Stepping Through a Macro with a Worksheet Visible

When developing a macro, it is often necessary to step through the various code lines so you can see what is happening on ...

Discover More

Word 2007 Styles and Templates (Table of Contents)

Styles are at the heart of Word's formatting power. Understanding how to use styles can greatly increase your ability to ...

Discover More

Summing Only Cells Containing Formulas

If you want to figure out the sum of all cells that contain formulas, there are a couple of ways you can go about it. ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Putting a Bullet in the Middle of a Sentence

Need a special character (such as a bullet) in the middle of your text? Here are two quick ways to enter the character ...

Discover More

Understanding Smart Cut and Paste

Editing is generally made easier by a feature that Word calls smart cut and paste. If you prefer, you can turn the ...

Discover More

Multiple Document Users

If you have a group of people working on a single document, you may wonder what tools are available in Word to facilitate ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 2 + 6?

2018-11-25 14:59:14

Patty

I open five pages of format, make a section break and then insert a document. Word always wants to change what i have done to some my first five pages.

How can I save some formatting without Word changing it? Always a big problem for me.

I really do not like editing in Word... I do not like having styles to automatically change things...

Also, how do I change Word to not open in Calibri... I do not want that font?

No one has been able to help me with these things.

This Site

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.