Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Saving Portions of Files.

Saving Portions of Files

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated November 11, 2017)

Some word processing programs contain an option that allows you to save a selected portion of a document to a new document automatically. Word does not, unfortunately, allow you to do this. You can, however, use a couple of workarounds. The first quick workaround is as follows:

Highlight the text you want to save to a new file.
Copy it to the Clipboard by pressing Ctrl+C.
Click on the New button on the toolbar. This opens a new Word document.
Press Ctrl+V. This pastes the text into the new document

At this point you can do anything with the new document you desire. The following method of dealing with this problem is also a unique way to approach the situation:

Highlight the text you want to save to a new file.
Copy it to the Clipboard by pressing Ctrl+C.
Minimize Word.
Right-click on the desktop. This displays a Context menu.
Choose Paste from the Context menu. This causes a scrap to appear on the desktop.
Double-click on the desktop scrap. Word opens a new document containing the scrap.

At this point you can save the new document under any name you want.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1177) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Saving Portions of Files.

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...

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