selecting a group of words to copy

BETHANY M HAYS HAYS 0 Reputation points
2026-08-22T14:40:11.84+00:00

I have always been able to select a group of words to copy and paste by clicking the touch pad and dragging the cursor over the words to highlight them. I'm suddenly unable to do this and can't copy a group of words to another document. Does this have to do with using Claude?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | MacOS
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  1. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 438K Reputation points
    2026-08-22T15:56:37.3266667+00:00

    I doubt that either of the 5 suggestions from the AI answer bot will resolve this very common issues.

    Please see Select Text which has provided a solution for dozens of users

    You also may want to have a look at Selection Techniques which describes anumber od ==f professional text selection metods which may users find to be more accurate & more efficient than dragging.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-08-22T14:40:25.3433333+00:00

    No. The context does not indicate any connection between Word text selection on macOS and Claude.

    For Word on Mac, this behavior is commonly related to selection or input settings rather than the document itself. The supported steps in the context are:

    1. In Word, go to Word > Preferences > Edit and make sure Drag-and-drop text editing is enabled.
    2. In macOS, go to System Settings > Accessibility > Trackpad and verify the drag settings are enabled and configured correctly.
    3. Test Word in a clean startup / Safe Mode to check whether a background app is interfering with Office for Mac.
    4. If the issue continues, reinstall Word by downloading Office directly from Microsoft rather than from the Mac App Store.
    5. If Word was already installed from Microsoft, try rolling back to a stable earlier Office for Mac version listed in the update history.

    If text selection still fails, the context also points to Word text-selection guidance and alternative selection techniques.


    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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