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Why can I no longer click and drag to highlight text in word?

Tony 30 Reputation points
2025-07-16T15:43:24.46+00:00

I am using a Mac running Sonoma 14.2.1 (23C71) and Microsoft word version 16.80.

My click and drag to highlight works perfectly on ALL applications except for Microsoft word - and even on the browser version through my email. But if I want to select text, I must double click a word, tripple click to select a line/ paragraph, or use Command a to select the entire document. Drag and Drop text editing is checked in preferences. I am at a loss of what to do.

Thanks for any support.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For business | MacOS
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  1. Stefan Blom 323K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-07-16T15:59:34.8866667+00:00

    To select a text range, click where you want the selection to start and then hold the Shift key as you click where you want the selection to end.

    Generally, issues with the selection can be improved or fixed if you restart your Mac and ensure to install the most recent updates.

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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  1. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 429.6K Reputation points
    2025-07-25T01:20:58+00:00

    Please don't start ripping your system apart or delete anything as recommended by some others. Your issue most likely is due to the fact that both macOS & Office are seriously in need of updates.

    macOS Sonoma should be at 14.7.6 & version 16.99 is current for Office.

    Also, see the existing thread [Select Text] for further explanation. It also contains a link to another thread which describes a variety of other more efficient techniques than dragging.

    3 people found this answer helpful.
  2. Kai-L 7,005 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-07-16T16:21:31.6+00:00

    Dear Tony,

    Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A Community. 

    I understand you're facing an unexpected issue with click-and-drag highlighting only in Word for Mac. Since it works everywhere else, the problem is almost certainly specific to your Word desktop application.

    Here are the key steps to resolve this:

     

    1.Test Word in Safe Mode:

    • Quit Word completely.
    • Hold down the Option key while clicking the Word icon to open in Safe Mode.
    • Test highlighting. This helps identify if add-ins or a corrupted template are the cause.
      • If it works in Safe Mode: Proceed to step 3 (Disable Add-ins).
        • If it still doesn't work: Proceed to step 2 (Reset Word Preferences).

    2.Reset Word Preferences:

    • Quit Word and all Office apps.
    • Go to Finder > Go > Go to Folder...
    • Type ~/Library/Containers/ and drag the Microsoft Word folder to your Desktop (backup).
    • Again, Finder > Go > Go to Folder...
    • Type ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/ and drag the User Content.localized/Startup/Word/Normal.dotm file to your Desktop (backup).
    • Restart Word and test.

    3.Disable All Add-ins (If Safe Mode worked):

    • Open Word normally.
    • Go to Tools > Word Add-ins.
    • Uncheck all add-ins, restart Word, and test. Re-enable them one by one to find the culprit.

    Please see this thread for just a few of the other techniques: Select Text

    Please let me know if there are any updates after trying these steps. I'm happy to assist further whenever needed.

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment". 

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
  3. Tony 30 Reputation points
    2025-07-25T14:23:36.8266667+00:00

    Thank you so much for your detailed responses, in the end this problem was caused by user error - I have not fully shut down my computer in some time, along with having too many apps and tabs open.

    After the full shutdown, everything functions properly.

    1 person found this answer helpful.

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