Backspace highlights and deletes chunks of text

[Dave the Duck]

This has slowly been driving me nuts: I'm typing up an essay, and if I use
the backspace key to delete something I've just typed Word tries to be
helpful by highlighting a few words on the first press, and deleting it all
on the second. This means that if I quickly try to backspace across two
letters I can actually end up deleting half a sentence instead.

Is there any way to turn this "feature" off? I've poked through the menus
but didn't have any luck.

 

[garfield-n-odie [MVP]]

If you're using a wireless keyboard, try replacing the batteries
in it.

 

[Dave the Duck]

If you're using a wireless keyboard, try replacing the batteries
in it.

Nope, it's a wired keyboard. The keyboard seems to work perfectly well in
every other program I use too, so I don't think it's a hardware problem.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Ctrl key sticking?

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Dave the Duck]

No, it's not that either, although thank you for telling me about that, I
didn't know control deletes full words!

Unlike the control delete, the first backspace in this problem highlights a
word or a few words as if you'd highlighted them with the mouse, and it's the
second one that deletes it.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Perhaps you have EXT (Extend Selection) enabled? The shortcut key for this
is F8.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org