How to Highlight Text in MS Word

It's a lot easier to show you what highlighting is, rather than explaining it. So examine the image below.

The two lines with the black background have been highlighted. When you highlight some text you can do things with it. You can change the size of the font, underline it, make it bold, delete it altogether, and many other things. But only the text that you have highlighted will change. The rest of your document will remain unchanged. So if we were to change the size of the font in the document above, only the two lines that have been highlighted will change size. Highlighting is very important in word processing.

So how do you highlight some text?

There are quite a few different ways to highlight text. We'll go through a few now. Practice them as you go long.

How to Highlight an entire document

You can highlight your entire document from the Edit menu. Click on Edit. From the drop down menu click on Select All. All of your text will have a black background. To get rid of highlighted text, click anywhere in your document with your left mouse button.

 

How to Highlight an entire line

Most of the time, though, you won't want to highlight the entire document, but just sections of it. You can highlight an entire line with just one mouse click.

To highlight a single line, move your mouse over to the left margin of your document. As in the image below.

When the mouse pointer turns into an arrow, click your left hand mouse button once, then let go. A single line will be highlighted.

You can use the same technique to highlight more than one line at a time. Instead of letting go of the left mouse button, keep it held down. Then move your mouse upwards or downwards in a straight line.

Let go of the mouse button when you are satisfied.

Highlighting blocks of text

This one is a little trickier, but not too tricky. To highlight a block of text, do the following

 

 

1. Click at the start of the block of text you want to highlight. (For practice purposes, click just before the letter "I" of "It has come …" on the first line.)


2. Hold down the Shift key on your keyboard (The Shift keys are the ones with the block arrows on them, pointing upwards. You hold down a shift key if you want a capital letter.)


3. With the Shift key held down, click your left mouse button at the end of the block of text you want to highlight. (Click after the question mark of " … premature?")


4. A block of text will be highlighted

Highlight by dragging

This is another tricky one, when you're starting out. A bit of practice, though, and you'll soon master it.

To highlight some text by dragging, do the following:

 

 

1. Click with your left mouse button at the start of the text you want to highlight


2. Keep your left mouse button held down


3. Drag your mouse pointer across the screen (Your mouse pointer will change shape. It will be the shape of a capital letter I"".


4. You can drag in any direction you like


5. When you've reached the end of the text you want to highlight, let go of the mouse button


6. Your text is highlighted

Highlighting a single word

Highlighting a single word is easy. All you have to do is to double click on the word with your left mouse button. That's it!

 

Highlighting with the keyboard (no mouse needed)

For more precise highlighting, nothing beats the keyboard.

Line Highlighting

 

 

1. To highlight a single line, move your cursor to the start of the line you want to highlight. (You can move the cursor about with the arrow keys on your keyboard. Play about with them and see what happens.)


2. Hold down a Shift key on your keyboard


3. With the Shift key held down, press the End key on your keyboard


4. A single line is highlighted


5. To go the other way, from the end of a line to the beginning, move your cursor to the end of the line (or somewhere in the middle will do for. It works just as well.)


6. Hold down a Shift key on your keyboard


7. With the Shift key held down, press the Home key on your keyboard


8. Your text is highlighted

Paragraph Highlighting

To highlight a paragraph with the keyboard alone, do the following

 

 

1. Move your cursor to the end of the paragraph you want to highlight


2. Hold down a Shift key AND a Ctrl key (bottom left of your keyboard)


3. With the Shift key AND a Ctrl key held down, press the Up arrow


4. A paragraph will be highlighted

If you want to go the other way, from the beginning of a paragraph to the end, press the Down arrow on your keyboard instead of the Up arrow.

Highlighting one word at a time

 

1. For practice purposes, move your cursor to the middle of a line of text


2. Hold down a Shift key AND a Ctrl key


3. With the Shift key AND a Ctrl key held down, press the Left arrow or the Right arrow key on your keyboard

Highlighting one letter at a time

 

1. For practice purposes, move your cursor to the middle of a line of text


2. Hold down a Shift key


3. With the Shift key, press the Left arrow or the Right arrow on your keyboard


4. A single letter is highlighted for every tap of an arrow key

And that ends the highlighting section. Practice the techniques outlined above using your library letter. It takes quite a while to master them all, so just pick a couple of highlighting techniques. The ones you find the easiest to do.