I don't have any problem column-selecting. Press Alt first and then begin
dragging as soon as you press the mouse button. As long as you don't release
the button immediately, it won't register as a "click."

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
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"craigeryjohn" wrote in message
news
I just want to be able to select vertical lines of text without the
research
pane showing up in Word 2003. When I use ALT-select, it tries to find the
text in the research pane, but I can't apply formatting to the selected
text
(because it is immediately deselected). Any help?