WD: CTRL+Click (or Command Key+Click) Fails to Select Document (122993)

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Word for Windows and Word for Windows NT, when you hold down CTRL and click the left mouse button in the left margin of your document, Word fails to select the document. Identical behavior occurs in Word for the Macintosh, when you hold down the Command key and click the mouse button.

Word appears to highlight the entire document, but then the highlight disappears from the document and appears only in a framed object.

CAUSE

This problem occurs when a frame is anchored to the first paragraph in the document, and you are trying to use the CTRL+click (or COMMAND+click) combination to select the document in page layout view.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, upgrade to the latest version of Microsoft Word.

To work around this problem, use one of the following methods to select the document.

Method 1: Change Views

Switch to normal view before using CTRL+click (or COMMAND+click) to select the document.

Method 2: Select All

On the Edit menu, click Select All.

Method 3: Use Your Keyboard

Press CTRL+A in Word for Windows or COMMAND+A in Word for the Macintosh.

Method 4: Move the Frame's Anchor

Move the frame's anchor to another paragraph in the document. To do this, follow these steps:

Click to turn on the Show/Hide button on the Standard Formatting toolbar.
Select the framed object. The anchor appears to the left of the first paragraph.
Drag the anchor to another paragraph, such as the second paragraph.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the versions of Microsoft Word listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected in Word 97 for Windows and Word 98 Macintosh Edition.