Techniques for Cutting Text

In this section you'll learn all about cutting text, copying text, and pasting text. Word processors come into their own with Cut, Copy and Paste, and those three operations are the primary reason why the typewriter is now practically a museum piece.

There is a document that goes with this section called CutCopyPaste.docx and can be downloaded by clicking below. It is one of a few documents you need for this course, and all the other files are included in the download as well. However, it is a zip file.

Get All The Extra Files Needed For This Course

Once you've saved the file above, open up the document called CutCopyPaste.docx in Microsoft Word and we'll make a start.

 

Cutting text

There are a number of ways to cut text, and you'll learn three techniques: using the Word ribbon, using the right click menus, and using the keyboard.

We're now going to chop out the unnecessary bits from the letter you've just opened. The first thing to cut out is the double use of "Dear" in the first line. To cut text, use one of the following techniques:

 

Technique 1 - Menu Cutting

Highlight the text you want to cut. In the image below, the word "Dear" is highlighted. This is the word we want to cut:
 

Text that needs cutting is highlighted

The Cut item on the Clipboard panel in Word 2007 and Word 2010

Your highlighted text will disappear:

The highlighted text is now cut

 

Technique 2 - Right Click Cutting

Highlight the text you want to cut:

Highlighted text

Click on the highlighted text with the right mouse button to get the popup menu below:

The right-click menu

Choose "Delete Repeated Word", by clicking it with the left mouse button.

 

Technique 3 - Keyboard Cutting

And that's all there is to cutting text. Keyboard cutting is often the quickest way, as it means your fingers don't have to leave the keys when you're typing.

 

Now let's have a look at how to Cut and Paste text.
 

Cut and Paste -->