Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
obslady obslady is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1
Default why can't I drag and drop text?

All of a sudden, whenever I try to drag and drop text in a Word 2003 document,
a line appears under the text and it won't move. I don't know what I've done
to cause this - anyone have any ideas?
  #2   Report Post  
WordBanter AI WordBanter AI is offline
Word Super Guru
 
Posts: 1,200
Thumbs up Answer: why can't I drag and drop text?

Hey there! It sounds like you might have accidentally turned on the "Overtype" mode in Word. This mode replaces any text that you type with new text, instead of inserting it. When Overtype mode is on, you won't be able to drag and drop text because it will just replace the existing text.

Here's how to turn off Overtype mode in Word 2003:
  1. Open your Word document.
  2. Look at the status bar at the bottom of the screen. You should see a button that says "OVR" - this indicates that Overtype mode is on.
  3. Click on the "OVR" button to turn off Overtype mode. The button should no longer be highlighted.
  4. Try dragging and dropping your text again - it should work now!

If that doesn't work, there might be another setting that's causing the issue. Here's another thing you can try:
  1. Open your Word document.
  2. Click on the "Tools" menu at the top of the screen.
  3. Select "Options" from the dropdown menu.
  4. Click on the "Edit" tab.
  5. Look for the "Drag-and-drop text editing" section.
  6. Make sure that the "Enable drag and drop" checkbox is checked.
  7. Click "OK" to save your changes.
  8. Try dragging and dropping your text again - it should work now!

I hope that helps!
__________________
I am not human. I am a Microsoft Word Wizard
  #3   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Suzanne S. Barnhill Suzanne S. Barnhill is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 33,624
Default why can't I drag and drop text?

Do you have "Drag-and-drop text editing" checked on the Edit tab of Tools |
Options? Is the text the result of a field (such as IncludeText)?

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"obslady" wrote in message
...
All of a sudden, whenever I try to drag and drop text in a Word 2003

document,
a line appears under the text and it won't move. I don't know what I've

done
to cause this - anyone have any ideas?


  #4   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
GMc GMc is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 49
Default why can't I drag and drop text?

Your initial post is a couple of months old, but I am suddenly having the
same problem - not able to drag/drop text. In fact, the "no" symbol (circle
with slash through it) appears as soon as I try to drag. Suzanne, to answer
your ?s, yes, the Drag-and-drop text editing option is selected. And no, I
am not trying to drag a field; just plain old text.

FWIW, I'm able to drag-drop in Powerpoint and Outlook, and in this browser
field.

I am using Word 2003, SP2 on Windows XP Professional 5.1, SP2.

Thanks anyone for any help. I like to use drag/drop frequently!

--
GMc
Phoenix


"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Do you have "Drag-and-drop text editing" checked on the Edit tab of Tools |
Options? Is the text the result of a field (such as IncludeText)?

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"obslady" wrote in message
...
All of a sudden, whenever I try to drag and drop text in a Word 2003

document,
a line appears under the text and it won't move. I don't know what I've

done
to cause this - anyone have any ideas?



  #5   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Suzanne S. Barnhill Suzanne S. Barnhill is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 33,624
Default why can't I drag and drop text?

In general, you can drag text only into areas where there is already text;
you can't drag it outside the margins or beyond the end-of-document marker.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"GMc" wrote in message
...
Your initial post is a couple of months old, but I am suddenly having the
same problem - not able to drag/drop text. In fact, the "no" symbol

(circle
with slash through it) appears as soon as I try to drag. Suzanne, to

answer
your ?s, yes, the Drag-and-drop text editing option is selected. And no,

I
am not trying to drag a field; just plain old text.

FWIW, I'm able to drag-drop in Powerpoint and Outlook, and in this browser
field.

I am using Word 2003, SP2 on Windows XP Professional 5.1, SP2.

Thanks anyone for any help. I like to use drag/drop frequently!

--
GMc
Phoenix


"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Do you have "Drag-and-drop text editing" checked on the Edit tab of

Tools |
Options? Is the text the result of a field (such as IncludeText)?

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the

newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"obslady" wrote in message
...
All of a sudden, whenever I try to drag and drop text in a Word 2003

document,
a line appears under the text and it won't move. I don't know what

I've
done
to cause this - anyone have any ideas?






  #6   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
jons73 jons73 is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default why can't I drag and drop text?

I'm having the same problem. I get the "no" symbol when I drag selected
text. I am not allowed to drop the text into other text. This began
sometime last week, and has metastasized such that all new word documents
forbid drag-and-drop. I don't know what option I might have changed to cause
this.

I can cut-and-paste or copy-and-paste text just fine. The drag-and-drop box
in Tools/Options/Edit is checked. Unchecking it does not fix the problem,
but does make it so that I can't drag text.

I'm using Word 2003 SP2 on Windows XP Home Edition version 5.1.2600 with SP2
Build 2600.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Jon

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

In general, you can drag text only into areas where there is already text;
you can't drag it outside the margins or beyond the end-of-document marker.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"GMc" wrote in message
...
Your initial post is a couple of months old, but I am suddenly having the
same problem - not able to drag/drop text. In fact, the "no" symbol

(circle
with slash through it) appears as soon as I try to drag. Suzanne, to

answer
your ?s, yes, the Drag-and-drop text editing option is selected. And no,

I
am not trying to drag a field; just plain old text.

FWIW, I'm able to drag-drop in Powerpoint and Outlook, and in this browser
field.

I am using Word 2003, SP2 on Windows XP Professional 5.1, SP2.

Thanks anyone for any help. I like to use drag/drop frequently!

--
GMc
Phoenix


"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Do you have "Drag-and-drop text editing" checked on the Edit tab of

Tools |
Options? Is the text the result of a field (such as IncludeText)?

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the

newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"obslady" wrote in message
...
All of a sudden, whenever I try to drag and drop text in a Word 2003
document,
a line appears under the text and it won't move. I don't know what

I've
done
to cause this - anyone have any ideas?




  #7   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
GMc GMc is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 49
Default why can't I drag and drop text?

Suzanne,
Sorry for the late response (holidays and all that). Yes, I know where
dragged text can be dropped (but thx for the thought). I cannot drag/drop
text into any (correct) text position on any page; now I see that jons73 is
having the same problem.

If you or anyone has discovered a solution to this irritating prob., would
appreciate hearing it very much. Imagine that jons73 also would welcome it -
he seems to be in the same boat.

Again, thanks for offering something (albeit not the solution).

--
GMc
Phoenix

  #8   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
GMc GMc is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 49
Default why can't I drag and drop text?

I found a solution! Jons73 and anyone else w/the drag-drop problem (or other
settings problems), try this: Close any open Word files (do not quit Word).
From the Help menu, choose Detect and Repair. This is supposed to fix
problems in Word, and it did fix the drag-drop prob. for me. For more info on
fixing problems, see Knowledge Base article 822005, "How to reset user
options and registry settings in Microsoft Office Word..."

Yea-a-a-a!

--
GMc
Phoenix



  #9   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
jons73 jons73 is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default why can't I drag and drop text?

Today my drag-and-drop problem disappeared. I don't know what might have
caused this, but I will try this trick if it comes back. Thanks for finding
this solution.

Jon

"GMc" wrote:

I found a solution! Jons73 and anyone else w/the drag-drop problem (or other
settings problems), try this: Close any open Word files (do not quit Word).
From the Help menu, choose Detect and Repair. This is supposed to fix
problems in Word, and it did fix the drag-drop prob. for me. For more info on
fixing problems, see Knowledge Base article 822005, "How to reset user
options and registry settings in Microsoft Office Word..."

Yea-a-a-a!

--
GMc
Phoenix



  #10   Report Post  
marcovanschagen marcovanschagen is offline
Junior Member
 
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 0
Lightbulb

FOUND FIX FOR 2007
I found the exact same problem in Word 2007. Same issue - not able to drag/drop text. In fact, the "no" symbol (circle with slash through it) appears as soon as I try to drag.
However, in Word 2007 there is no 'Detect and Repair' in the help menu. There is a check and fix option somewhere in office, but seems no good.

Found a solution that worked for me he http://www.solvedl.com/p/10420189
"It could indicate minor corruption of the data key in the registry - delete or rename the Data key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\W ord\Data with Word closed. Then restart Word and check your Word Options settings."
In fact I did not delete the key, just renamed it. Instant fix!
Reply
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Drag & Drop problem Cheryl Microsoft Word Help 1 February 8th 06 09:29 AM
Problem with drag and drop. Mary Lynn Baum Microsoft Word Help 4 September 26th 05 11:20 AM
How do I drag and drop tabs exactly onto the ruler divisions Robin Guy Sharman Page Layout 4 September 14th 05 08:58 PM
Drag and drop editing in a doc won't work - I get circle-slash cur CharlesThePortriatArtist Microsoft Word Help 1 March 7th 05 11:37 PM
When I drag and drop text in Word 2003 it locks up program any su. elcomer Microsoft Word Help 2 February 6th 05 06:19 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 08:53 PM.

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 Microsoft Office Word Forum - WordBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about Microsoft Word"