Word's automatic word-by-word text selection via click and drag can save you plenty of time and trouble. Problems may arise, however, when you're selecting text with a lot of punctuation or numbers. It often requires a feat of great dexterity and timing to keep the selection from jumping further than you want. To select via click and drag without fumbling for the correct ending point, hold down <Alt> while you make your selection. This will cause Word to select the text one character at a time.

By GEORGE CAMPBELL