Inability to Use BACKSPACE to Delete Text to Left

Last reviewed: July 30, 1997
Article ID: Q35566
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Word for Windows versions 1.0, 1.1, 1.1a, 2.0, 2.0a, 2.0a-CD, 2.0b, 2.0c, 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c

An attempt to use the BACKSPACE or DEL key to move left sometimes may not be allowed. This problem can be caused by one of the following:

  1. There may be hidden text between the insertion point and the text to be erased. Select the Show Hidden Text option under Preferences on the Edit menu and try again to move.

  2. The insertion point is at the very beginning of a paragraph, and the preceding paragraph is formatted differently. Because paragraph formats are stored in the paragraph mark (carriage return) at the end of the paragraph, deleting the paragraph mark from the previous paragraph would cause that paragraph to take on the formatting of the paragraph the insertion point is in.


KBCategory: kbother
KBSubcategory:
Additional query words: winword 1.x 2.0 2.0a word6
2.0a-CD 2.0b 2.0c 6.0 6.0a 6.0c winword2
Version : 1.x 2.x 6.0 6.0a 6.0c
Platform : WINDOWS


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Last reviewed: July 30, 1997
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