# Microsoft Word help needed urgently! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 18, 2003, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-help-needed-urgently/175988 "2003-05-18T03:11:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr\_Sherbet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@Mr\_Sherbet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Sherbet)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-help-needed-urgently/175988/1 "2003-05-18T03:11:40Z")
Im typing something up in MSWord and i have encountered a problem. If i start to type something, before something that is already there, it over writes what is already there. E.g If i have the word “Help” written down, and i move my cursor to just before the H and i type B, i will have “Belp” written down instead of “BHelp”. What have i done? How do i fix it? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-help-needed-urgently/175988/2 "2003-05-18T03:13:57Z")
Hit the Insert key. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-help-needed-urgently/175988/3 "2003-05-18T03:14:21Z")
Are you serious? If so, try pressing the ‘insert’ key. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Sherbet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@Mr\_Sherbet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Sherbet)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-help-needed-urgently/175988/4 "2003-05-18T03:16:19Z")
thankyou both very much. Moreso Q.E.D because he didnt make me feel so stupid. But still thanks for Starving But Strong for making me feel stupid. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-help-needed-urgently/175988/5 "2003-05-18T03:27:41Z")
Sorry, Mr. Sherbet. It just sounded like a set up for a Whooosh! to me. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-help-needed-urgently/175988/6 "2003-05-18T15:10:36Z")
Yeah, in the future hitting F1 is quicker 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/73ab20/32.png) [@Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caesar_s_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-help-needed-urgently/175988/7 "2003-05-18T19:05:11Z")
This might be a hijack, but how does Microsoft Word (and other word processing systems) get stuck that way, anyway? Why do you have to hit the Insert key? ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-help-needed-urgently/175988/8 "2003-05-18T19:14:34Z")
Because you hit it one time before and now you toggle back. And, it’s not WORD, it’s Windows. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-help-needed-urgently/175988/9 "2003-05-18T20:37:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > \*\*Yeah, in the future hitting F1 is quicker 🙂 \*\* Actually, maybe not. If you’ve never used the insert key, and don’t know the term ‘overtype’ what would you search for? BTW, I program so use Insert occasionally - but I’m not sure it’s common enough to really justify a key. Does anyone use it anymore? ---
**Author:** ![Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/73ab20/32.png) [@Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caesar_s_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-help-needed-urgently/175988/10 "2003-05-18T22:19:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*Because you hit it one time before and now you toggle back. And, it’s not WORD, it’s Windows. \*\* But I never use the insert key for anything. ---
**Author:** ![lilbtagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@lilbtagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilbtagna)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-help-needed-urgently/175988/11 "2003-05-18T23:08:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Caesar’s Ghost \* > \*\*But I never use the insert key for anything. \*\* On my keyboard, it’s to the right of the backspace key. I’ll accidently hit it pretty often.