How to make Microsoft Word selection behave like it would in a plain text editor

Whenever I select a section of text in MS Word, it automatically alters the selection to add or remove whitespace depending on the context of the selection.

As a developer that works with plain text all day, I expect that when I place my curser over a character and click/drag backwards to select a group of text, that the place I initially clicked will be the end of the selection. However, Word seems to insist that in some cases it must also select some trailing spaces and/or newline characters.

How can I simply turn off all "smart" selection behavior?

I have already deselected "select entire word when selecting text" and while this is helpful, it still does not solve the problem of automatically selecting the newlines and spaces after the word. (e.g. if I click the end of a sentence and drag backwards a couple of lines, it will expand the selection to include the newline at the end of the sentence. likewise if I select a word and delete it, it deletes an additional space.)

I am using MS Word 2016 but this applies to all versions over the last 10-15 years or so.

microsoft-word

Andrew Marshall

Posted 2015-08-25T20:30:35.487

Reputation: 413

Then what you need is Use smart paragraph selection, turn that off for the newline at the end. – MC10 – 2015-08-25T20:47:16.720

2Does anyone understand the rationale behind Microsoft's decision to make this awkward behavior the default? I've been trying to think of a use case where this behavior would actually be helpful. Nothing comes to mind, though. – antred – 2019-02-10T10:51:47.303

2Stupid word and it's stupid smaaart selection for imbeciles, which, by the way, will have even more trouble with it, argggh, sorry. – AgentFire – 2019-04-03T13:12:12.340

2@antred I think this kind of idiotic behaviour is the default on Windows, because apparently Microsoft doesn't think its users know how to select text, I guess. Another MS UX fail. Selecting by words is already so simple with a double-click and drag anyway, there's no justification for this nonsense. – devios1 – 2019-05-15T17:26:36.843

Answers

Go to File → Options → Advanced → under Editing options, uncheck

☑ When selecting, automatically select entire word

and

☑ Use smart paragraph selection

Edit:

You can also disable the settings for copy and pasting. Scroll down to Cut, copy, and paste and click Settings... Then uncheck:

☑ Adjust sentence and word spacing automatically

and

☑ Adjust paragraph spacing on paste

MC10

Posted 2015-08-25T20:30:35.487

Reputation: 7 590

I also unchecked the following to disable the space adjusting on delete and copy/paste: "adjust sentence and word spacing automatically" and "adjust paragraph spacing on paste" – Andrew Marshall – 2015-08-25T20:56:57.670

@AndrewMarshall Where are these settings under? I can't find them in Word 2013 but I'm still looking. You can edit it in to the answer if you'd like. – MC10 – 2015-08-25T21:00:17.540

2I am using Word 2016 on Mac OS X. Here you can find these settings under word --> preferences --> edit --> cut and paste options --> settings – Andrew Marshall – 2015-08-26T04:19:58.603

@AndrewMarshall Ah, thanks. I've edited the info into the post. – MC10 – 2015-08-26T12:59:12.443

Does PowerPoint allow one to disable its equivalent feature? – airstrike – 2017-03-28T02:33:27.723

I would have posted this as a comment, but I don't have sufficient reputation :(

As @daniel.sedlacek stated, While in Word For Mac 2019, go to the menu bar, Click on Word -> Preferences -> Edit.

Uncheck Select entire word when selecting text.

Also uncheck Include paragraph mark when selecting paragraphs.

^This will put an end to Word selecting the extra space at the end of a paragraph when you highlight it going right-to-left.

Alternatively, you could highlight the paragraph going left-to-right, and it will obey your stopping point.

SW_user2953243

Posted 2015-08-25T20:30:35.487

Reputation: 61

You can also hold Shift+Ctrl when selecting text, and this feature will be disabled

Tim Hovius

Posted 2015-08-25T20:30:35.487

Reputation: 121

no, not working – Ignas – 2019-03-25T23:02:10.320

To disable this "smart selection" for Outlook for Mac - and probably for the whole Microsoft Office suite for macOS - you have to install Microsoft Word and uncheck

Word -> Preferences -> Edit -> Select entire word when selecting text

daniel.sedlacek

Posted 2015-08-25T20:30:35.487

Reputation: 551

1this does not work anymore :( – daniel.sedlacek – 2019-04-24T11:38:10.067

1This un-feature constantly gets in my way. I disabled the option in Word, but it is still happening in Outlook and Outlook doesn't have the option in its preferences to disable! – devios1 – 2019-05-15T17:21:43.993

I have the same problem

When selecting a paragraph, ensure that the selection end at the last character on the paragraph (not selecting a virtual space after the paragraph), or
When you paste, click paste option icon (appears under the pasted text) and select the last option (keep text only)

good luck

Bashar Issa

Posted 2015-08-25T20:30:35.487

Reputation: 1