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Re: Can't double click to select a word, in a Microsoft Word document

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Klaw...@officeformac.com

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Jun 3, 2009, 2:39:35 PM6/3/09
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> Hi, all of a sudden I can no longer simply double click on a word within a Microsoft Word document, to select it. Was wondering if I inadvertently turned that function off somehow but have checked everywhere and can't find any on/off for it. Any idea on what to do to restore double click word selection? thanks alot. David

Hi David,
I am having the same problem. Have you noticed that you can no longer select a paragraph by triple clicking in the margin? Or a sentence using Command key? I installed Word 2008 version 12.1.7 today. My husband is using 12.1.5 and can select without difficulty. What's going on and does anyone know how to solve this problem? Karen

Brow...@officeformac.com

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May 30, 2009, 9:56:55 AM5/30/09
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Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

Robert Jones

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Jun 3, 2009, 5:38:22 PM6/3/09
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Is your installation of Office & OS X fully updated? Once everything is up
to date run Disk Utility - Repair Disk Permissions, restart your Mac & see
if things improve. There is no specific setting - it's an OS functionality.

Can you select a word by double-clicking in other programs? If not, check
your System Preferences for Keyboard & Mouse to see if your double-click
speed is set too high. If you have a 3rd party device make sure the driver
software for it is up to date & check its settings.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

On 5/30/09 9:56 AM, in article 59b75...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,

Robert Jones

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Jun 3, 2009, 5:55:53 PM6/3/09
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Hi Karen;

On 6/3/09 2:39 PM, in article 59b75...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,
"Klaw...@officeformac.com" <Klaw...@officeformac.com> wrote:

>> Hi, all of a sudden I can no longer simply double click on a word within a
>> Microsoft Word document, to select it. Was wondering if I inadvertently
>> turned that function off somehow but have checked everywhere and can't find
>> any on/off for it. Any idea on what to do to restore double click word
>> selection? thanks alot. David
>
> Hi David,
> I am having the same problem. Have you noticed that you can no longer select a
> paragraph by triple clicking in the margin?

You never could - triple clicks in the selection area (left margin) selects
the entire document... The equivalent of Command+a. Double-Clicking in the
margin selects a paragraph.

> Or a sentence using Command key?

Make sure you don't have any content already selected when you try.

> I installed Word 2008 version 12.1.7 today. My husband is using 12.1.5 and can
> select without difficulty. What's going on and does anyone know how to solve
> this problem? Karen

As suggested to the Owner of this thread, Repair Disk Permissions & restart
your Mac. If that doesn't correct the situation please post a separate
message stating all particulars. "Me too" interjections in another thread
have a tendency to confuse the issue making it harder for those trying to
follow or respond in the conversation.

FWIW, all methods work as expected here with 12.1.7 in both Tiger & Leopard.

CyberTaz

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Jun 10, 2009, 5:35:05 PM6/10/09
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Hello, Mr. McGimpsey;


On 6/10/09 5:24 PM, in article
jemcgimpsey-2D57...@news.microsoft.com, "JE McGimpsey"
<jemcg...@mvps.org> wrote:

> In article <C64C69A9.4E091%cybe...@comcast.net>,


> Robert Jones <cybe...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> You never could - triple clicks in the selection area (left margin) selects
>> the entire document... The equivalent of Command+a. Double-Clicking in the
>> margin selects a paragraph.
>

> OTOH, triple-clicking the *right* margin does select the paragraph...

Well, not to split hairs, john but the right margin is effectively a part of
the paragraph :-) Notice how the pointer continues to appear as an I-beam.

JE McGimpsey

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Jun 10, 2009, 5:24:49 PM6/10/09
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In article <C64C69A9.4E091%cybe...@comcast.net>,
Robert Jones <cybe...@comcast.net> wrote:

> You never could - triple clicks in the selection area (left margin) selects
> the entire document... The equivalent of Command+a. Double-Clicking in the
> margin selects a paragraph.

OTOH, triple-clicking the *right* margin does select the paragraph...

JE McGimpsey

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Jun 11, 2009, 10:49:31 AM6/11/09
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In article <C6559F49.4E59A%onlygen...@com.cast.net>,
CyberTaz <onlygen...@com.cast.net> wrote:

> Well, not to split hairs, john but the right margin is effectively a part of
> the paragraph :-) Notice how the pointer continues to appear as an I-beam.

Hmm.... you don't *really* want to go there, do you? Basing the
"paragraph/margin" boundary on the *cursor shape*?? Really??? <vbg>

Let's try a little experiment:

In Page Layout view (with an insertion point selection so the I-beam
pointer shows when hovering over text), move the cursor to the grey area
to the left of the "paper". Note that the cursor is a
*left-pointing-arrow*. Triple click. Note that the entire text is
selected.

Now click in the text to reset the cursor to an I-beam. Move the cursor
to the grey are to the right of the "paper". Note that the cursor is a
*left-pointing-arrow* (!!) as in the steps above. Triple Click. What do
you see?

"Wait", you say. When moving to the left, the cursor changes from left-
to right- then back to left-pointing-arrow. Obviously a visual clue that
the regions are different, right?

"Not so fast", I retort. Start with the cursor in the left grey area,
then move down and around to the right, staying in the completely
undifferentiated grey area. No change to the cursor. But different
behavior. Odd.

Now insert a couple of multi-line footnotes.

Triple click in the grey area below and to the right of the "paper". The
selection is a zero-width *insertion point* before the last paragraph
mark.

Triple click in the grey area directly below the "paper". The last
footnote *paragraph* is selected.

Triple click in the grey area below and to the left of the "paper". The
last *line* of the last paragraph is selected.

In all of the above three cases, the cursor is a *left-pointing-arrow*.

If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and
expecting different results, MS is doing it's part to keep us sane - we
actually *get* different results!

Don't even get me started on Publishing Layout View, where there's a
*clear* blue-line visual demarcation between text and margin, yet the
behavior still is different.

The real answer (IMNSHO) is that the left margin was jimmied by MS to
work differently than the right margin. But that doesn't make the right
margin any less a "margin". Nor is it "part" of the paragraph. There are
no paragraph properties which affect the margin. Paragraphs have indent
properties instead.

OK, the hair's been split to picometer thickness... <vbg>

dr.ino...@gmail.com

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Apr 5, 2016, 12:36:16 AM4/5/16
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thank you, it was helpful and it worked for me.

kenki...@gmail.com

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Apr 11, 2017, 12:36:16 PM4/11/17
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----------
This happened to me, seemingly overnight. I'm going back to my HP laptop to meet my work deadline, then I'll figure it out. BTW, I can successfully click-to-highlight in other apps.

hollim...@gmail.com

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Jun 19, 2020, 2:32:03 PM6/19/20
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"If not, check
> your System Preferences for Keyboard & Mouse to see if your double-click
> speed is set too high"

Thanks Bob - This issue was driving me crazy - I slowed my double click speed a notch or two, and that seems to have done the trick!

THANK YOU!

Carrie Hunter

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Apr 15, 2021, 3:16:35 PM4/15/21
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I'm having a similar problem. I can't highlight my text if I doubleclick it just puts the cursor at the beginning of the line. If I triple click outside the "page" of the text as suggested above, it only wants to show me outline view. Also double clicking in the text seems to only bring up the suggest edits/comments feature, which I don't want. Any advice? I have a brand new 2021 macbook air and its not working like the old computer!
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