Selecting an Entire Paragraph

Summary: Paragraphs are an elemental building block for documents. This tip explains the different ways you can select entire paragraphs of text. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, Word 2003, and Word 2007.)

If you are using the mouse, Word provides several quick ways to select an entire paragraph. First, you can simply triple-click anywhere within the paragraph. This is perhaps the fastest and most common method of selecting an entire paragraph.

Second, you can move the mouse pointer to the left of the first character in any line of the paragraph you want to select. The mouse pointer turns into an arrow pointing up and right. Double-click the mouse, and the paragraph is selected.

Finally, if you are using the style area, you can also move the mouse pointer into the style area to the left of the paragraph you want to select. Click once on the left mouse button, and the entire paragraph is selected.

If you like to use the keyboard instead of the mouse, you can select the current paragraph by pressing Ctrl+Up Arrow (which moves the insertion point to the beginning of the paragraph) and then pressing Ctrl+Shift+Down Arrow.

Tip #1277 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

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Selecting an Entire Paragraph