# Is there a way to disable "select whole word" in IE7?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-disable-select-whole-word-in-ie7/573372>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 3, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-disable-select-whole-word-in-ie7/573372 "2011-03-03T16:38:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-disable-select-whole-word-in-ie7/573372/1 "2011-03-03T16:38:49Z")

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I’ve found out how to disable it in Word, but not while I’m on the internet.

Is there a fix for this yet? From what I can determine, it started in IE6.

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**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-disable-select-whole-word-in-ie7/573372/2 "2011-03-03T17:04:41Z")

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Oooh! Please tell me how to disable it in Word.

This idiotic feature is one of the reasons I still do most of my word processing in WordPerfect.

Of course, one solution for the problem in IE would be to use Firefox (or, probably, Chrome, Safari, Opera etc.), as I do. Sorry I can’t help with the problem as posed.

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**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-disable-select-whole-word-in-ie7/573372/3 "2011-03-03T17:25:09Z")

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> [@njtt](#):
>
> Oooh! Please tell me how to disable it in Word.
> 
> This idiotic feature is one of the reasons I still do most of my word processing in WordPerfect.

Tools -\> Options -\> Edit tab.  
clear the select entire word check box

WordPerfect is a wise choice. It is intuitive, flows well, gives control to the user, easy macros.

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**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-disable-select-whole-word-in-ie7/573372/4 "2011-03-03T17:29:18Z")

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I can’t use them at work.

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**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-disable-select-whole-word-in-ie7/573372/5 "2011-03-05T21:04:27Z")

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The best I can tell you is to, right after you start the click, press and hold shift. Then you can drag without whole word selection.

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**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-disable-select-whole-word-in-ie7/573372/6 "2011-03-07T12:52:54Z")

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Thanks! I’ll try it!