Move Text using Drag and Drop in Word 2007

by rhyttinen on July 15, 2009

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

If you want to copy or move text only a short distance, such as from one location to another in the same document, the drag-and-drop method is another option. You can also drag-and-drop text from one open document to another, although this requires a bit more deftness with the mouse.

Dragging-and-dropping consists of first selecting the text that you wish to move or copy, clicking and holding down the mouse button, and then dragging the text to the desired new location. If you wish to copy the text rather then move it, press and hold down the Ctrl key before dragging.

Move Text Using Drag and Drop

To Copy or Move Text with Drag-and-Drop

Select the text to be moved or copied.
Move the mouse pointer anywhere over the selected text.
If you wish to copy the text rather than move it, press and hold down the Ctrl key.
Press and hold down the mouse button and then drag the text to the desired location. As you drag, a small horizontal bar appears which indicates the location of the text.
Release the mouse button.

Similar Posts:

Share and Enjoy:

Tagged as: Microsoft Office Tips, Word Tips

{ 3 comments }

Paul April 7, 2011 at 3:27 am: Would you happen to know what events are generated during this operation? I have a Word macro which does processing on text that is moved within the document. I have already intercepted the EditCut, EditCopy, EditPaste Word macros and do my processing when those are detected but this operation (drag and move or drag and copy with the mouse) does not use the typical Word / VBA functions.

Thanks
rhyttinen April 8, 2011 at 3:48 pm: Hi Paul,
No, can’t say that I know how to interpret the VBA code for this one. I suppose you’ve already tried recording a macro while doing this and then observing the VBA Code behind the macro?

Maybe someone out there knows?
Paul April 8, 2011 at 4:15 pm: Thanks for the response!

I did try the recording a macro trick. You can’t do a select + drag and drop while recording so that was a dead end. I’ve written an Addin which subscribes to the WindowSelectionChange event and I’m able to detect this due to selection changes. It’s inelegant since it’s hard to discriminate if the change involved is the initial selection, the drop with copy, or the drop after a cut. It’s clear that this is Word’s implementation of OLE drag and drop. I don’t see a way to intercept that processing but I would be most appreciative to anyone who could add any ideas about how to handle this.

Thanks