Move the insertion point and select characters, words, lines, and paragraphs using the mouse or keyboard.
The mouse lets you quickly select text or text objects and move the insertion point. However, if you work with a lot of text, you might find that the keyboard techniques let you move the insertion point more precisely to edit more quickly.
Before you can cut, copy, move, delete, type over, or perform other operations on text characters, you need to select the text within a text object. You can select text when a text object is in Edit mode.
The phrases “selected text,” “text selection,” and “highlighted text” all refer to an active selection of characters within a text object. Selected text appears highlighted; the highlight color depends on your system’s color settings.
Keep in mind that a text selection is not the same as a selected text object. When you select a text object, you can move, copy, delete, and perform other operations on the entire object. When you make a text selection, the editing actions will affect only the highlighted characters within the object.
Click anywhere in the text object or layout. Clicking outside the selected text object creates another text object at that location.
While editing text, use the key combinations listed in the following table to move the insertion point and select text.
Key Combinations for Text Editing
Press this key | and these keys | to do this in Edit mode |
None | Up arrow, Down arrow, Right arrow, Left arrow | Move insertion point 1 space right or left |
Page Up, Page Down | Move insertion point 3 lines up at the left margin (Page Up) or down at the right margin (Page Down) | |
Fn + Right or Left arrow | Move insertion point to the beginning (Home) or end (End) of the text object | |
Ctrl | Right arrow, Left arrow | Move insertion point to the next word end (Right arrow) or beginning (Left arrow) |
Up arrow, Down arrow | Move insertion point to the left margin of the line, or up 1 line at the left margin (Up arrow), or down 1 line to the left margin (Down arrow) | |
Fn + Right or Left arrow | Move insertion point to beginning (Home) or end (End) of line | |
Shift | Right arrow, Left arrow | Extend selection 1 space right or left |
Up arrow, Down arrow | Extend selection 1 line up or down | |
Page Up, Page Down | Extend selection 3 lines up or down | |
Fn + Right or Left arrow | Extend selection to the beginning (Home) or end (End) of the text object | |
Shift + Ctrl | Right arrow, Left arrow | Extend the selection 1 word right or left |
Up arrow, Down arrow | Extend the selection to left margin (Up arrow) or right margin (Down arrow). From the margin, extend the selection to the other margin, or up or down 1 line | |
Page Up, Page Down | Extend selection 3 lines up or down |
Using the mouse and modifier keys, you can quickly place the insertion point, select specific words, and select sections of text in Edit mode. For information on putting a text object in Edit mode, see Text Edit Mode.
Mouse Actions for Text Editing