Mouse not selecting text in Word

Hi,

Restarting your iMac and the Microsoft Word app is the quickest and most effective way to fix the click-and-drag text selection glitch.

Quick Fixes

• Restart your iMac: A temporary system or application cache glitch often locks cursor-dragging behavior in Word. A full restart resolves this for most users.
• Check Mouse Settings: Go to System Settings > Accessibility > Pointer Control (or Mouse/Trackpad) and adjust your double-click speed, as an overly high setting can interfere with selection actions.
• Reset Word Preferences: Quit Word, open Finder, press Cmd + Shift + G, type ~/Library/Preferences, and look for com.microsoft.Word.plist. Move it to the trash, then restart your Mac.

Alternative Selection Shortcuts

If your mouse still refuses to drag across text, you can use these built-in workarounds:

• Shift + Click: Click at the start of the text, hold the Shift key, and click at the end of what you want to highlight.
• Shift + Arrows: Place your cursor next to the text, hold Shift, and use the arrow keys to highlight.
• Select Words/Paragraphs: Double-click a single word or triple-click an entire paragraph to select it automatically.

If all else fails boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE 1: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

NOTE 2: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.

You need to provide more details.

What year model is your Mac..?

What macOS version is it running..?

What version of word is the Mac running..?

Is this an old problem or one that just started..?

I personally do not have any use for Word or MS products on my Mac's, but there have been reported cases where MS Office needs to be updated after a macOS update or upgrade.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/lifecycle/officeinstall/update-m365-office-macos-ios

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/support/known-issues/fixes-or-workarounds-for-recent-issues-in-word-for-mac

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/microsoft-office-2019-for-mac-will-soon-stop-letting-you-edit-documents.2483196/page-12

Thanks mate. I continued working on it and it came good. Basically rebooted everything.

Yay!