Stop Accidentally Moving Text Around All Over the Place!

SUMMARY: Prevent Word 2010 from allowing text to be dragged and dropped.


Microsoft Word 2010 lets you drag and drop text inside the current document, or between other open documents. This means you can select a character, word, paragraph, page, or more, click and hold the mouse button, and then move the pointer to another section of the document (or another open document) to have the text appear at the new location.
Some find the drag-and-drop feature useful. However, others who may not be as comfortable with the mouse (or use a trackpad or other input device) accidentally may move text around to unintended places. While a simple CTRL + Z undo should fix the problem, why deal with this in the first place? If you don’t need to drag-and-drop text, disable this “feature”:

1. Select the “File” tab in the Ribbon.word-2010-backstage-view-options-button
2. The Microsoft Office Backstage View appears. Click the “Options” button.
(Or instead of steps 1 and 2, press Alt + T, then the letter O.)

3. The “Word Options” dialog box appears. Click “Advanced” in the left pane.

4. In the right pane, underneath “Editing options”, uncheck “Allow text to be dragged and dropped”.

Disabling Word 2010’s text drag-and-drop feature

5. Click “OK” on the bottom-right of the dialog box to close it.

Return to the Microsoft Word 2010 page.