Cannot select non-contiguous text with the keyboard (275969)

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Office Word 2003
Microsoft Word 2002

This article was previously published under Q275969

SYMPTOMS

You use the keyboard to select areas of non-contiguous text in Microsoft Word. When you do this, the text becomes unselected when you hold CTRL and press the arrow keys to move the insertion point to continue selecting text in a different area of your Word document.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use the mouse to select non-contiguous areas of your Word document. To do this, follow these steps:

Use your mouse and select the first text that you want.
While holding CTRL, select the next text that you want.
Repeat step 2 until you select all the text that you want.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

MORE INFORMATION

The Word Help topic "Select text by using the keyboard" incorrectly states the following:

Select text by holding down SHIFT and pressing the key that moves the insertion point. To select multiple areas that aren't next to each other, make your first selection, hold down CTRL, and then select any other items you want.

Modification Type:	Major	Last Reviewed:	9/25/2006
Keywords:	kbbug kbnofix KB275969