Delete Text in Word – Instructions and Video Lesson

Delete Text in Word: Video Lesson

            This video lesson, titled “Deleting Text,” shows you how to delete text in Word. This video is from our complete Word tutorial, titled “Mastering Word Made Easy v.2019 and 365.”

Delete Text in Word: Overview

            You can easily delete text in Word, including individual characters, words, paragraphs, or all the text in a document. Learning how to delete text in Word is a basic skill you must know to use Word effectively. You need to delete text in Word when you occasionally make mistakes when typing text. It is one of the most common editing tasks in Word.

How to Delete Text in Word Using the Keyboard

            One way to delete text in Word is to use the “Backspace” and “Delete” keys on your keyboard while typing. On most PCs, using the “Backspace” key deletes text to the left of the insertion marker. Pressing the “Delete” key deletes text to the right of the insertion marker. For most Macs, pressing the “Delete” key deletes text to the left of the insertion marker. Pressing the “fn” (function) key plus the “Delete” key deletes text to the right of the insertion marker.

            Another way to delete text in Word is to select the text to delete within the document. Then press the “Delete” key on your keyboard to remove it.

How to Delete Text in Word by Replacing It with New Text

            You can also easily delete and replace selected text in a Word document. To do this, select the text to replace in the document. Then immediately type over it with new text. This saves you the extra step of deleting the old text before typing the new text.

Delete Text in Word- Instructions: A picture of a user selecting the text to delete in a Word document.

Delete Text in Word: Instructions

Instructions on How to Delete Text in Word Using the Keyboard

1. To delete text in Word while typing, use the “Backspace” and “Delete” keys on your keyboard to remove text while typing.
2. On most PCs, using the “Backspace” key deletes text to the left of the insertion marker.
3. Pressing the “Delete” key deletes text to the right of the insertion marker.
4. For most Macs, pressing the “Delete” key deletes text to the left of the insertion marker.
5. Pressing the “fn” (function) key plus the “Delete” key deletes text to the right of the insertion marker.
6. Alternatively, to delete text in Word that has already been typed, select the text to delete.
7. Then press the “Delete” key on your keyboard.

Instructions on How to Delete Text in Word by Replacing It with New Text

1. To replace existing document text with new text, select the text in the document to replace.
2. Then immediately type the new text.