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Just upgraded to Word 16.107.4 - Using mouse to highlight text for editing no longer works!

Warren Faidley 20 Reputation points
2026-04-13T21:47:27.1233333+00:00

Anyone had similar issues? Using Mac Studio 15.6. Worked fine until upgrade. Holding and moving across all other programs, e.g., internet, text edit, etc. highlight the text fine. Just Word fails. Tried two mouse units, both do it. Thanks.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | MacOS
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  1. Norah-L 6,265 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-04-14T02:53:48.04+00:00

    Have a nice day, Warren Faidley!

    From what you described, text highlighting works normally across other apps on your Mac Studio (15.6) but doesn’t behave as expected in Word after the recent upgrade even when trying with different mouse devices.

    Some users have reported seeing similar behavior in Word on Mac after an update and were able to resolve it by simply restarting their Mac. Please try restarting your Mac first to see if that helps.

    If the issue continues, go to Word > Preferences > Edit, and make sure Drag‑and‑drop text editing is turned on.

    While you're there, you can also try unchecking Smart paragraph selection, as this setting may affect how text highlighting behaves.

    Hope this helps. Feel free to post back here if you need further support!

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

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  1. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 435.4K Reputation points
    2026-04-14T17:47:04.8766667+00:00

    Re point #2: Just for clarification, the techniques described in the referenced Answer are not workarounds. They are standard features of the program, most of which are fully documented in Word Help & well known to those who have been trained to use the software. Many of those techniques work equally well in other text based software [e.g., triple-click to select a paragraph, shift-click to select a string or extend a selection, etc.].

    If anything, the dragging technique is more of a workaround relied on by those who are not aware of or choose not to adopt those methods.

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  2. Stefan Blom 340.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2026-04-14T07:46:29.13+00:00

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  3. Q&A Assist
    2026-04-13T21:47:34.7066667+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    This behavior after an update is a known, fairly common issue in Word for Mac where dragging with the mouse/trackpad stops selecting text, even though it still works in other apps.

    The recommended resolution is to follow the guidance in the existing “Select Text” answers referenced by the moderators:

    1. Review the “Select Text” guidance
      • The moderator notes that this issue and its causes/cures are explained in an existing Answer titled Select Text. That Answer also links to another thread with the same name.
      • Those posts describe both the cause of the drag‑to‑select failure and the steps to correct it in Word for Mac.
    2. Use alternative selection methods (workaround)
      • Until the drag issue is resolved, use the alternative selection techniques described in the linked “Select Text” material. These methods (such as click‑and‑shift‑click, keyboard selection, and other precise techniques) work even when dragging does not and are often more accurate and efficient for longer passages.

    If the problem persists after applying the steps in the “Select Text” guidance, raise it in the Word forum so that Support Agents and MVPs can review the exact Word build and macOS combination in use.

    References:

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