How to Edit a Word Document

The greatest advantage of using a word processor is how easy it is to edit text throughout a document. One quick and easy way to edit text is by selecting it and then typing over it to replace it.

Select Text

Selecting text is a very important skill in Word. Whenever you want to edit or format text, you first need to select it. There are multiple ways to select text, letting you select a small amount to entire paragraphs at once.

1. Click and drag across the text you want to select.

   You can select any amount of text with this method, from a single character to your entire document.

   Here are some other ways to select text you’ll find useful:

   • Press and hold down the Shift key, and move the insertion point either with your mouse or the arrow keys to select text.
   • Double-click a single word to select it.
   • Press the Ctrl key and click in a sentence to select it.
   • Triple-click in a paragraph, or double-click in the left margin next to a paragraph, to select it.
   • Click in the left margin to select an entire line, or click and drag in the left margin to select multiple lines.
   • Press Ctrl + A to select everything in the document.
   

Edit Text

1. Select the text you want to replace, then start typing the new text.