Unable to select text by holding left click and dragging down the lines

Question

Unable to select text by holding left click and dragging down the lines

Oakkar Aung 0

I cannot select text specifically in the word. Normally, you can hold the left click and drag the text down the line to select the text lines but in my case it doesn't work. It is so furstrating. Help any suggestion?

2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 322.7K MVP Volunteer Moderator

Left click with the mouse at the start of the text that you want to select and then move the mouse cursor to the end of that text and hold down the SHIFT key and left click with the mouse.

Answer 2

Jade Ng 9,365 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Dear @Oakkar Aung,

Good day. Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum!

According to your description, I understand how frustrating this can be click‑and‑drag text selection is a very basic Word function, and when it suddenly stops working it really disrupts your workflow.

To help me investigate this issue further, could you please confirm the following:

What version of Office are you using?
Does this issue also occur in other Office applications (e.g. Excel, PowerPoint)?
Are you experiencing the same behavior when using Word on the web? Also, are there any other users in your tenant who are encountering the same issue?
Have you noticed any error messages? If possible, please take a screenshot of the issue you are experiencing and share it with me. This will help me better understand the scenario and provide more accurate assistance.

In the meantime, please try these steps below and check if it works:

1.Check Word’s drag-and-drop setting

Open Word > File > Options > Go to Advanced
Under Editing options, make sure “Allow text to be dragged and dropped” is checked
Click OK, close Word, then reopen it

Untitled

2.Repair Office Application: You can refer to Repair an Office application - Microsoft Support and then check the result.

Note: Please note that our initial response does not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.

Please feel free to reply below if you have any update or further concern. Thank you for your valuable time and cooperation. I am looking forward to your response!

Jade Ng 9,365 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-24T04:20:16.9266667+00:00

Dear @Oakkar Aung,

I just wanted to check in and see if you have any updates or additional information you’d like to share regarding your situation. If there's anything new or if you need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

Looking forward to hearing from you
Oakkar Aung 0 Reputation points

2026-02-24T14:07:57.2566667+00:00

Word Version : 2601

The problem only happened in the Word .

No, I didn't experiences in the Word Web. Only in the software Word

No errors messages

. I had tried the Allow text to be dragged and droped, it didn't work for me.
Oakkar Aung 0 Reputation points

2026-02-24T14:13:47.2133333+00:00
word version : 2601

Yes, the problem only occured in the Word

The problem only happened in the Word software, but it did fine in the Word Web.

4.There is NO error messages or what so ever. Just unable to select text by holding left click and dragging down to select another lines of text.
Jade Ng 9,365 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-25T11:12:24.8133333+00:00
Dear @Oakkar Aung,

Thank you for confirming!

If the Allow text to be dragged and dropped option is already enabled and the issue still persists, please proceed with the following steps:

Repair Microsoft Office as mentioned earlier, please try repairing Office to resolve any potential application-related issues. You can refer to Repair an Office application - Microsoft Support and then check the result.

Uninstall and reinstall Office If the repair does not resolve the issue, kindly uninstall Office completely, then reinstall it and check whether the issue is resolved.

For reference: Uninstall Microsoft 365 or Office from a PC

Please let me know the outcome after completing the steps above, or if you need any assistance during the process.

Thank you for your cooperation.
Oakkar Aung 0 Reputation points

2026-03-01T17:33:43.89+00:00

hello, I have done all the repairing and uninstall and reinstall things. but now I realized that the problem isn't that the text is not selecting , rather It is selecting but NOT BEING VISIBLE . I meant I can clearly see the first line selected and as soon as i dragged the next line , it is not visible. BUT it is selected, I can test it by backspace deleting, and it got deleted. SO THE MAIN PROBLEM is that I cannot see what I'm selecting NOT MORE THAN ONE LINE. Help!! any suggestions?. Thanks for advance.
Suzanne S Barnhill 276.3K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-03-02T01:48:56.35+00:00

This issue has been reported by other users. Make sure to report it to Microsoft using Help | Feedback | Report a problem.
Jade Ng 9,365 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-02T04:10:03.72+00:00

Dear @Oakkar Aung,

Thank you for getting back to me!

As Suzanne S. Barnhill mentioned above, in this case I would recommend that you report the issue directly within Microsoft Word, as a number of other users are experiencing a similar problem.

Submitting feedback will help ensure that this issue is properly tracked and addressed by the Microsoft product team, so it can be resolved as soon as possible.

Once again, I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused and truly appreciate your patience and understanding.

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Unable to select text by holding left click and dragging down the lines

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