Deleting, Copying, and Moving Text

Another important aspect of editing is being able to delete, move, or copy text in your document. Each of these tasks can be easily accomplished in Word and uses the mouse or the keyboard to select the text that you want to delete, move, or copy. Then, it's just a matter of invoking the correct command to delete, move, or copy the selected text.

Deleting Text

Deleting text can be accomplished in more than one way. The simplest way to remove characters as you type is with the Backspace key or the Delete key. If no text is selected, these keys work like this:

• Delete Deletes the character to the right of the insertion point.

• Backspace Deletes the character to the left of the insertion point.

You will probably find, however, that when you delete text you want to remove more than just one character, so use the keyboard or the mouse to select the text you want to delete. After the text is selected, press the Delete key. The text is then removed from the document.

You can also delete text and replace it with new text in one step. After the text is selected, type the new text. It replaces the entire existing, selected text.

Delete and Cut Are Different When you want to erase a text block forever, use the Delete key. When you want to remove text from a particular place in the document but want to have access to it again to place it somewhere else, use the Cut command on the Edit menu. When you cut an item, it is automatically placed on the Office Clipboard. These steps are covered later in this lesson.

Copying, Cutting, and Pasting Text

Copying or cutting text and then pasting the copied or cut item to a new location is very straightforward. All you have to do is select the text as we discussed earlier in this lesson and then invoke the appropriate commands. Use the following steps to copy and paste text in your document:

1. Using the mouse or the keyboard, select the text that you want to copy.

2. Select the Edit menu, and then select Copy , or press Ctrl+C to copy the text.

3. Place the insertion point in the document where you want to place a copy of the copied text.

4. Select the Edit menu and then select Paste , or press Ctrl+V . A copy of the text is inserted at the insertion point.

Use the Copy, Cut, and Paste Icons To quickly access the copy, cut, and paste features, use the Copy, Cut, and Paste icons on the Word toolbar, respectively.

After you paste your selected text, the Paste Smart Tag icon appears just below the text that you have pasted. When you click this icon, it provides a shortcut menu that allows you to keep the formatting that was applied to the source text that you copied, match the formatting supplied by the destination for the text (the paragraph you are placing the text in), or just paste the text into the new location with no formatting at all (which means it will assume the formatting that is provided at the current location). Figure 3.3 shows the Paste Smart Tag provided for pasted text.

Figure 3.3. The Paste Smart Tag allows you to choose how the text is pasted into the new location.

What Are Smart Tags? Smart Tags are shortcuts that are assigned to particular types of information in a Word document. For example, you will see that people's names are labeled with a smart tag (a purple dotted line below the text) that makes it easy to add a person to your Outlook Contact folder. Text that has been pasted to a new location is also flagged with a smart tag that makes it easy to format the pasted text.

Cutting text from the document and then pasting it to a new location is every bit as straightforward as using copy and paste. Select the text, and then press Ctrl+X or click the Cut button on the Standard toolbar. Click the I-beam to place the insertion point on the document, and then you can use Ctrl+V or the Paste button on the Standard toolbar to place the text in a new location. A Paste Smart Tag will appear below the pasted text as shown in Figure 3.3.

Using the Office Clipboard to Copy and Move Multiple Items

The Office Clipboard feature now resides in the task pane of your Office application windows as discussed in Lesson 3, "Using the Office Task Pane," which is found in Part I of this book. If you want to copy or cut more than one item and then be able to paste them into different places in the document, you must use the Office Clipboard. Follow these steps:

1. To open the Clipboard task pane, select the Edit menu and select Office Clipboard . The Clipboard appears in the task pane.

2. As shown in Figure 3.4, select and copy each item to the Clipboard.

   Figure 3.4. The Clipboard can hold up to 24 separate items.

   

3. After you have copied your items onto the Clipboard, place the insertion point where you want the first item to be pasted. Then, return to the Clipboard and with the mouse, point to your first item and click; Word automatically inserts the item into the document.

4. Repeat step 3 as needed to paste other items from the Clipboard into your document.

If you want to cut and paste (or move) multiple items, you must use the Office Clipboard. Follow these steps:

1. To open the Clipboard, select the Edit menu and select Clipboard . The Clipboard appears in the task pane.

2. Select and cut each item to the Clipboard.

3. After you have your cut items on the Clipboard, place the insertion point where you want the first item to be pasted. Then, return to the Clipboard and with the mouse, point to your first item and click; it will automatically be inserted into the document.

4. Repeat step 3 as needed to paste other items from the Clipboard into your document.

Open the Task Pane from the View Menu You can also open the task pane by selecting View and then Task Pane. Then use the Other Task Panes drop-down list to select the task pane you want to use such as the Clipboard.

Using Drag and Drop

One other way to move text is by selecting it and dragging it to a new location. This is called drag and drop . After the text is selected, place the mouse on the text block and hold down the left mouse button. A Move pointer appears, as shown in Figure 3.5.

Figure 3.5. Drag a block of selected text to a new location with drag and drop.

Drag the Move pointer to the new location for the text. A dotted insertion point appears in the text. Place this insertion point in the appropriate position and release the mouse button. The text is moved to the new location.