You typed a three-paragraph letter and realized paragraph 3 should be before paragraph 2. What's the fastest fix in Word?

Triple-click the misplaced paragraph to select it, press Ctrl+X to cut, click where it should go, press Ctrl+V to paste. Triple-click selects the whole paragraph, Ctrl+X removes it (saved to clipboard), click before the target spot, Ctrl+V drops it in. Two keystrokes plus a click — done.

You used the name 'Pat' throughout a long letter and need to change all of them to 'Patrick.' What's the best tool?

Press Ctrl+H, type 'Pat' in Find and 'Patrick' in Replace, check 'Match whole words only,' then click Replace All. The Match whole words option prevents 'patience' from becoming 'patrickience.'

You Can Edit Word Documents! Summary + Certificate

That's the editing toolkit!

You can now select text, format it, move it around, undo your mistakes, and search-and-replace your way through a document. That covers about 95% of what folks need to do in Word every day.

Quick Recap

Two-step dance: select first, then act. Anything you do to highlighted text applies to just that selection.
Selecting: double-click a word, triple-click a paragraph, click-and-drag for anything else, Ctrl+A for everything.
Formatting: Bold (Ctrl+B), Italic (Ctrl+I), Underline (Ctrl+U). On Mac, use Cmd instead of Ctrl.
The clipboard trio: Cut (Ctrl+X), Copy (Ctrl+C), Paste (Ctrl+V). Move text from one spot to another without retyping.
Undo (Ctrl+Z): the safety net. Use it anytime you do something you didn't mean to.
Find & Replace (Ctrl+H): change every instance of a word in one shot. Use Replace (not Replace All) if there's any risk.

One Last Knowledge Check

Two scenarios. Pick the best move for each.

You typed a three-paragraph letter to your dentist, then realized you put paragraph 3 before paragraph 2 — they need to be swapped. You don't want to retype everything.

What's the fastest fix?

You wrote a long letter and used the name "Pat" throughout. Pat just told you they go by "Patrick" now. You see at least 8 mentions of "Pat" in your document but you don't trust yourself to find all of them.

What's the best tool for this job?

Here's Your Certificate!

You earned it. Two courses down, one to go in the Word series.

What's Next?

Word: Saving a Document

The most important skill in computing: not losing your work. Save vs Save As, where files go, file names that make sense, .docx vs PDF, and what to do when Word crashes before you saved.

Start the Saving course →

Word: Starting a New Document

Missed the first one? Three ways to start a new doc, plus when to pick a blank page vs a template.

Start the first course →

Need a hand?

If something in Word isn't behaving, drop by Skits' Office. Or if it's bigger than a question, talk to Jerry — in-home tutoring at your kitchen table is exactly what he does.