How to select an entire section in word
By Robert King
You can use section breaks in Word to apply different layout or formatting for part of your document, page numbers or page number style, headers or footers, etc. If you need to select all the content in a section, there is no shortcut to do this.
However, we do have a workaround you can use to select all the content in a single section.
Place the cursor at the beginning of the section you want to select and press “F8” to turn on Extend Mode. Press “F5” to open the “Find and Replace” dialog box and click the “Go To” tab. Select “Section” in the “Go to what” list.
To select all the content in the current section, click “Next”.
NOTE: Do not enter anything in the “Enter section number” edit box.
The entire section is selected, but the “Find and Replace” dialog box remains open. Click “Close” to close it.
This procedure does not work when selecting the last section of a document or selecting an entire document when there is only one section in the document. If you want to select the entire document, simply press “Ctrl + A”.
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How to select a range of pages from whole document in Word?
If you want to select any page ranges in a Word document, how many ways can you get it done? Now, I introduce some tricks for you to select a range of pages in Microsoft Word.
If you want to select a range of pages or specific pages from a Word document, Kutools for Word‘s Select Pages feature can help you to select any page that you need.
Kutools for Word: with more than 100 handy Word add-ins, free to try with no limitation in 60 days. Click to Download and free trial Now!
Click on the start of the page and hold Shift, scroll to the end of the page and click on the end of the content of this page. Now the pages are selected.
1. Press Alt+F11 to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window;
2. Click Module from Insert tab, copy and paste the following VBA code into the Module window;
VBA code: select a range of pages from a Word document:
3. Press F5 to run this code, an the pages from page 2 to page 6 are selected at once.
Note: Here you can change Count:=2 and Count:=6 to meet your needs. In this VBA code, we select the page range from page 2 to page 6.
With Kutools for Word’s Select Pages utility, you can quickly select any page ranges you want in the document. Just one click will help you finish the page selection.
1. Click Kutools > Pages > Select Pages, see screenshot:
2. In the pop-up dialog, you can specify the page range by typing the number in the field under Select pages according to range section. Or you can select specific pages as you need in the Select pages according to selection list box. See screenshot:
3. Click OK or Apply button to select your desired pages.
In this post, we’d like to introduce you 4 quick methods which you can employ to select an entire section in your Word document.
Once in a while, you shall find yourself working on a lengthy document. Certainly, you will organize the file and arrange content position. Among them, section break is often used to separate 2 pieces of contents of different subjects.
Now let’s take a look at reasons to select an entire section:
- Do word count in a section. One section can last several pages, thus it takes time to select the section from the start to the end. We have no trouble understanding a quicker way is expected.
- Extract a section from a document. Sometimes, if you need to use the contents in a section for another purpose, to quickly export the texts shall remain your concern.
There are 4 methods coming.
Method 1: Use “Go To” Feature
- First off, put cursor at the start of the section and press “F8”.
- Then click “Home” tab.
- Next click the upside-down triangle button behind “Find”.
- On the drop-down menu, choose “Go To”. Click the Button->Choose “Go To”” src=” alt=”Click “Home”->Click the Button->Choose “Go To”” width=”963″ height=”135″ srcset=” 963w, 300w, 768w, 500w” sizes=”(max-width: 963px) 100vw, 963px”/>
- Now in the “Find and Replace” dialog box, under “Go To” tab, select “Section”.
- And leave the text box in blank then click “Next”.
You shall see the section is in selection. Click “Next”” src=” alt=”Select Section->Click “Next”” width=”747″ height=”436″ srcset=” 747w, 300w, 500w” sizes=”(max-width: 747px) 100vw, 747px”/>
Method 2: Apply Heading Style
- Firstly, add some marking letters or numbers at the head of the section you want to select and the one next to it. And you must apply the same level heading style to them. For example, in our case, we enter “1” and “2” at the beginning of section 1 and 2. Both 2 numbers are in “Heading 2” style.
- Then click “View” tab.
- Next click “Outline”.Click “Outline”” data-wpfc-original-src=” alt=”Click “View”->Click “Outline”” width=”622″ height=”113″ data-wpfc-original-srcset=” 622w, 300w, 500w” sizes=”(max-width: 622px) 100vw, 622px”/>
- Now under “Outline” view, click on the plus sign before the adding number to select the target section.
Method 3: Select in “Navigation Pane”
- First and foremost, follow the first 2 steps in method 2.
- Only this time, check the “Navigation Pane” box.Check “Navigation Pane” Box” data-wpfc-original-src=” alt=”Click “View”->Check “Navigation Pane” Box” width=”399″ height=”144″ data-wpfc-original-srcset=” 399w, 300w” sizes=”(max-width: 399px) 100vw, 399px”/>
- Then click “Browse the headings in your document”.
- Next right click on the target section and choose “Delete”.Right Click on the Heading ->Choose “Delete”” data-wpfc-original-src=” alt=”Click “Browse the headings in your document”->Right Click on the Heading ->Choose “Delete”” width=”290″ height=”505″ data-wpfc-original-srcset=” 290w, 172w” sizes=”(max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px”/>
- Now you will have the section deleted, but fear not.
- Immediately click the “Undo” command to bring the section back and it shall be in selection.
Method 4: Run Word Macro
- To start with, place insertion pointer inside a section and press “Alt+ F11” to trigger the VBA editor.
- Then under “Normal” project, click “Insert” and choose “Module”.Click “Module”” data-wpfc-original-src=” alt=”Click “Insert”->Click “Module”” width=”290″ height=”168″/>
- Next double click on the new module to open the editing area.
- Then enter or paste the following codes:
- Finally, click “Run”.Click “Run”” data-wpfc-original-src=” alt=”Enter Codes ->Click “Run”” width=”486″ height=”227″ data-wpfc-original-srcset=” 486w, 300w” sizes=”(max-width: 486px) 100vw, 486px”/>
Now the exact section where your pointer is will be selected.
Go Back up Your Files
Word is susceptible to errors, yet most of us never see it coming in the first place. People feel panic only after files getting corrupted. If there is one thing that can prepare us for the surprise failure of Word, it is the backup. Without it, your last choice left is to get Word file error recovery software.
You can define a range in a Microsoft Office Word document by using a Range object. You can select the entire document in a number of ways, for example, by using the Select method of the Range object, or by using the Content property of the Document class (in a document-level customization) or the Document class (in a VSTO Add-in).
Applies to: The information in this topic applies to document-level projects and VSTO Add-in projects for Word. For more information, see Features available by Office application and project type.
Define a range
The following example shows how to create a new Range object that includes the first seven characters in the active document, including non-printing characters. It then selects the text within the range.
To define a range in a document-level customization
Add the range to the document by passing a start and end character to the Range method of the Document class. To use this code example, run it from the ThisDocument class in your project.
To define a range by using a VSTO Add-in
Add the range to the document by passing a start and end character to the Range method of the Document class. The following code example adds a range to the active document. To use this code example, run it from the ThisAddIn class in your project.
Select a range in a document-level customization
The following examples show how to select the entire document by using the Select method of a Range object, or by using the Content property of the Document class.
To select the entire document as a range by using the Select method
Use the Select method of a Range that contains the entire document. To use the following code example, run it from the ThisDocument class in your project.
To select the entire document as a range by using the Content property
Use the Content property to define a range that encompasses the entire document.
You can also use the methods and properties of other objects to define a range.
To select a sentence in the active document
Set the range by using the Sentences collection. Use the index of the sentence you want to select.
Another way to select a sentence is to manually set the start and end values for the range.
To select a sentence by manually setting the start and end values
Create a range variable.
Check to see if there are at least two sentences in the document, set the Start and End arguments of the range, and then select the range.
Select a range by using a VSTO Add-in
The following examples show how to select the entire document by using the Select method of a Range object, or by using the Content property of the Document class.
To select the entire document as a range by using the Select method
Use the Select method of a Range that contains the entire document. The following code example selects the contents of the active document. To use this code example, run it from the ThisAddIn class in your project.
To select the entire document as a range by using the Content property
Use the Content property to define a range that encompasses the entire document.
You can also use the methods and properties of other objects to define a range.
To select a sentence in the active document
Set the range by using the Sentences collection. Use the index of the sentence you want to select.
Another way to select a sentence is to manually set the start and end values for the range.
To select a sentence by manually setting the start and end values
Create a range variable.
Check to see if there are at least two sentences in the document, set the Start and End arguments of the range, and then select the range.
I only want to highlight/select character by character, not entire words up to a punctuation mark.
Can this be disabled? Do I need to find a plug-in that forcefully disables that feature?
Replies (11)
* Please try a lower page number.
* Please enter only numbers.
* Please try a lower page number.
* Please enter only numbers.
I only want to highlight/select character by character, not entire words up to a punctuation mark.
2 people found this reply helpful
Was this reply helpful?
Sorry this didn’t help.
Great! Thanks for your feedback.
How satisfied are you with this reply?
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Thanks for your feedback.
So I guess what you’re saying is that you cannot disable that feature.
As per your suggestion, it’s not working for me. Not sure what I’m doing wrong.
This is what I’m doing:
1) Holding down left click at the end of a word, to the left of the period
2) Hold Shift key
3) Move my mouse left
When I move passed that word, it starts highlighting entire words again.
6 people found this reply helpful
Was this reply helpful?
Sorry this didn’t help.
Great! Thanks for your feedback.
How satisfied are you with this reply?
Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.
How satisfied are you with this reply?
Thanks for your feedback.
This is what I’m doing:
1) Holding down left click at the end of a word, to the left of the period
2) Hold Shift key
3) Move my mouse left
When I move passed that word, it starts highlighting entire words again.
You are doing a drag operation; doing that does select full words including the last word’s trailing space, if any. What you want to do is Click (and release) at an end point, notice the I-bar input pointer where you want it. Nothing should appear selected. Move your pointer to the other end of what you want to select; press Shift- and then Click there. Still holding Shift you can click further right or left to change your selection. That is the general solution which works on text whether it is in an input area or not. When it is in an input area you can alternatively press Shift- and move the I-bar pointer right or left using your cursor keys or press Ctrl-Cursor (right or left while still holding the Shift down to select words. Then trim the words with more cursor keys. If you have Caret Browsing enabled (e.g. Alt-V,b pressing F7 as a toggle without any visual feedback is too unreliable IMO) you may find that you can make similar keyboard only selections on non-input text. In fact, I’m finding Caret Browsing useful to have on anyway in order to see the I-bar text position outside of input areas.
5 people found this reply helpful
Was this reply helpful?
Sorry this didn’t help.
Great! Thanks for your feedback.
How satisfied are you with this reply?
Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.
Microsoft Word provides many tools that allow you to format the text that you have added to a document. But it also includes some formatting options for the document itself. This can range from things like columns, to other features like section breaks.
A section break in a Word document lets you split up your document into separate parts, which you can then format without affecting the rest of the document. A common use for this is to change the orientation for a single page of your document, while leaving the rest of the document in the current orientation.
But if you have previously created a section break that you no longer need, or if you are editing someone else’s document and wish to remove one of the section breaks they’ve added, then our guide below will show you how.
How to Delete a Section Break in Microsoft Word
The steps in this article were performed in the Microsoft Word for Office 365 version of the application, but will also work in most other recent versions of Word. The first section of this article provides a quick overview of how to remove a Word section break, but you can continue scrolling to see the full guide with pictures, or you can click here to jump to that section.
Learn how to locate a section break in a Word document and delete that break if you no longer wish to include it in your document.
If you’re writing a long document, you’ll need to use paragraphs to avoid walls of text. There are different schools of thought on how best to approach your paragraph layouts. By default, Microsoft Word inserts a space after each paragraph but doesn’t use any indentation.
Some people prefer to indent the first line of each paragraph. You may also want to indent whole sections of your documents, especially if you’re wrapping text around an image. If you want to indent text in Word, here’s what you’ll need to do.
Indenting the First Line of a Paragraph
The most common form of indentation used in documents is to indent the first line of each paragraph—this is, thankfully, a very simple process.
To start, open your Microsoft Word document and type your first paragraph. Once the paragraph is in place, place your blinking cursor at the start of the paragraph, then press the Tab key on your keyboard.
This first line will now become indented.
If you hit the Enter key to start a new paragraph, the first line of your new paragraph will also become indented.
This will apply to every new paragraph you create.
Setting First Line Indentation as the Default in Word
If you want to use the same first line indentation for every document, you can set this as the default formatting option for your Microsoft Word documents.
To do this, place the blinking cursor anywhere in a paragraph that has the formatting you want in place (e.g. a paragraph with an indent applied).
In the Home tab of the ribbon bar, right-click on the Normal style.
You may need to click on the Styles button to find this if you can’t see it already.
After right-clicking Normal, click on the Modify option.
Select Format > Paragraph.
Paragraph” width=”238″ height=”166″ />
In the Indentation section, select the First line option from the Special drop-down menu.
Click OK to confirm, then press the New documents based on this template option.
Click OK to save the option. With this saved, every new document you create will use the first-line indentation by default.
Indenting a Whole Paragraph
If you want to indent the whole paragraph, this is also possible in Word. To do so, select the paragraph you want to indent.
In the Layout tab on the ribbon bar, click the Indent Left upwards arrow, within the Paragraph section.
Continue to click the up arrow to increase the depth of the indent on. You can also type a value (in centimeters) in the Left box itself until you achieve the size you desire.
If you wish to indent the right-hand side of the paragraph as well, repeat the process with the Indent Right box.
Changing Indentation for an Entire Document
You can change the indentation for existing documents using a similar process to the above methods, although there are some variations, depending on the type of indentation you’re looking to use.
There are two types of text indentation available. As we’ve seen above, a first-line indentation will indent the first line of each paragraph. Hanging indentation, in contrast, will indent everything except the first line.
You can apply both using these steps. If you want to apply either type of indent to your entire document, you’ll need to make sure that all text is selected first. You can do this manually, or press Ctrl + A on your keyboard.
With your text selected, right-click your text and press the Paragraph option.
In the Indentation section, select either the First line or Hanging options under the Special drop-down menu.
Press OK to save your chosen text indentation and apply it to your document.
Formatting Word Documents
Text indentation is a useful option for certain document types, including academic documents. If you want to know how to indent text in Word, you may wish to improve your formatting further and create more professional documents.
Academic writers, in particular, may wish to learn how to insert footnotes and endnotes into their documents. If you’re working with others, you should know how to annotate documents in Word to help point out areas for improvements.
In this post, we’d like to introduce you 4 quick methods which you can employ to select an entire section in your Word document.
Once in a while, you shall find yourself working on a lengthy document. Certainly, you will organize the file and arrange content position. Among them, section break is often used to separate 2 pieces of contents of different subjects.
Now let’s take a look at reasons to select an entire section:
- Do word count in a section. One section can last several pages, thus it takes time to select the section from the start to the end. We have no trouble understanding a quicker way is expected.
- Extract a section from a document. Sometimes, if you need to use the contents in a section for another purpose, to quickly export the texts shall remain your concern.
There are 4 methods coming.
Method 1: Use “Go To” Feature
- First off, put cursor at the start of the section and press “F8”.
- Then click “Home” tab.
- Next click the upside-down triangle button behind “Find”.
- On the drop-down menu, choose “Go To”. Click the Button->Choose “Go To”” src=” alt=”Click “Home”->Click the Button->Choose “Go To”” width=”963″ height=”135″ srcset=” 963w, 300w, 768w, 500w” sizes=”(max-width: 963px) 100vw, 963px”/>
- Now in the “Find and Replace” dialog box, under “Go To” tab, select “Section”.
- And leave the text box in blank then click “Next”.
You shall see the section is in selection. Click “Next”” src=” alt=”Select Section->Click “Next”” width=”747″ height=”436″ srcset=” 747w, 300w, 500w” sizes=”(max-width: 747px) 100vw, 747px”/>
Method 2: Apply Heading Style
- Firstly, add some marking letters or numbers at the head of the section you want to select and the one next to it. And you must apply the same level heading style to them. For example, in our case, we enter “1” and “2” at the beginning of section 1 and 2. Both 2 numbers are in “Heading 2” style.
- Then click “View” tab.
- Next click “Outline”.Click “Outline”” data-wpfc-original-src=” alt=”Click “View”->Click “Outline”” width=”622″ height=”113″ data-wpfc-original-srcset=” 622w, 300w, 500w” sizes=”(max-width: 622px) 100vw, 622px”/>
- Now under “Outline” view, click on the plus sign before the adding number to select the target section.
Method 3: Select in “Navigation Pane”
- First and foremost, follow the first 2 steps in method 2.
- Only this time, check the “Navigation Pane” box.Check “Navigation Pane” Box” data-wpfc-original-src=” alt=”Click “View”->Check “Navigation Pane” Box” width=”399″ height=”144″ data-wpfc-original-srcset=” 399w, 300w” sizes=”(max-width: 399px) 100vw, 399px”/>
- Then click “Browse the headings in your document”.
- Next right click on the target section and choose “Delete”.Right Click on the Heading ->Choose “Delete”” data-wpfc-original-src=” alt=”Click “Browse the headings in your document”->Right Click on the Heading ->Choose “Delete”” width=”290″ height=”505″ data-wpfc-original-srcset=” 290w, 172w” sizes=”(max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px”/>
- Now you will have the section deleted, but fear not.
- Immediately click the “Undo” command to bring the section back and it shall be in selection.
Method 4: Run Word Macro
- To start with, place insertion pointer inside a section and press “Alt+ F11” to trigger the VBA editor.
- Then under “Normal” project, click “Insert” and choose “Module”.Click “Module”” data-wpfc-original-src=” alt=”Click “Insert”->Click “Module”” width=”290″ height=”168″/>
- Next double click on the new module to open the editing area.
- Then enter or paste the following codes:
- Finally, click “Run”.Click “Run”” data-wpfc-original-src=” alt=”Enter Codes ->Click “Run”” width=”486″ height=”227″ data-wpfc-original-srcset=” 486w, 300w” sizes=”(max-width: 486px) 100vw, 486px”/>
Now the exact section where your pointer is will be selected.
Go Back up Your Files
Word is susceptible to errors, yet most of us never see it coming in the first place. People feel panic only after files getting corrupted. If there is one thing that can prepare us for the surprise failure of Word, it is the backup. Without it, your last choice left is to get Word file error recovery software.
I only want to highlight/select character by character, not entire words up to a punctuation mark.
Can this be disabled? Do I need to find a plug-in that forcefully disables that feature?
Replies (11)
* Please try a lower page number.
* Please enter only numbers.
* Please try a lower page number.
* Please enter only numbers.
I only want to highlight/select character by character, not entire words up to a punctuation mark.
2 people found this reply helpful
Was this reply helpful?
Sorry this didn’t help.
Great! Thanks for your feedback.
How satisfied are you with this reply?
Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.
How satisfied are you with this reply?
Thanks for your feedback.
So I guess what you’re saying is that you cannot disable that feature.
As per your suggestion, it’s not working for me. Not sure what I’m doing wrong.
This is what I’m doing:
1) Holding down left click at the end of a word, to the left of the period
2) Hold Shift key
3) Move my mouse left
When I move passed that word, it starts highlighting entire words again.
6 people found this reply helpful
Was this reply helpful?
Sorry this didn’t help.
Great! Thanks for your feedback.
How satisfied are you with this reply?
Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.
How satisfied are you with this reply?
Thanks for your feedback.
This is what I’m doing:
1) Holding down left click at the end of a word, to the left of the period
2) Hold Shift key
3) Move my mouse left
When I move passed that word, it starts highlighting entire words again.
You are doing a drag operation; doing that does select full words including the last word’s trailing space, if any. What you want to do is Click (and release) at an end point, notice the I-bar input pointer where you want it. Nothing should appear selected. Move your pointer to the other end of what you want to select; press Shift- and then Click there. Still holding Shift you can click further right or left to change your selection. That is the general solution which works on text whether it is in an input area or not. When it is in an input area you can alternatively press Shift- and move the I-bar pointer right or left using your cursor keys or press Ctrl-Cursor (right or left while still holding the Shift down to select words. Then trim the words with more cursor keys. If you have Caret Browsing enabled (e.g. Alt-V,b pressing F7 as a toggle without any visual feedback is too unreliable IMO) you may find that you can make similar keyboard only selections on non-input text. In fact, I’m finding Caret Browsing useful to have on anyway in order to see the I-bar text position outside of input areas.
5 people found this reply helpful
Was this reply helpful?
Sorry this didn’t help.
Great! Thanks for your feedback.
How satisfied are you with this reply?
Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.
