How to stop auto-deleting when adding to a line in Word?

[Guest]

At work I have Word 2002 and every once in a while I'll accidently get into a
mode where, when trying to add verbiage to a line, for every character I type
it takes one away; how can I turn that off?

 

[Greg Maxey]

Toggle the OVR display on the status bar.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Press the Insert key once.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Guest]

I have the same problem- I Pressed the Insert key once - it did not help.
the other answer said toggle the OVR? i do not know what that is.
I am using Office 20077 on a new computer. Can you help- this is nerve
wracking?
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Ordinarily, the Insert key toggles "overtype" mode on and off.

For Word 2007, right-click on the status bar (at the bottom of Word's
window... it's the area that [usually] tells you what page you're on, the %
by which the windows is zoomed, etc. When you right click the status bar,
you should see that a number of items are checked. Those are the status bar
elements that are enabled. If you click Overtype, you should see either the
word "Insert" or the word "Overtype" appear or disappear. With Overtype
checked in the right-click list, the indicator will remain on in the status
bar.

Now... press the Insert key and watch the status bar. Normally, pressing the
Insert key toggles between Insert and Overtype. You can also toggle by
clicking the word Insert or Overtype in the status bar.

In Insert mode, text you type causes existing text to scoot to the right. In
Overtype mode, text you type replaces existing text (with a few exceptions).

For Word 2002... What's probably happening at work is that you're
accidentally pressing the Insert key. When pressed, you should see the OVR
indicator toggling on/off. When it's on, you can turn it off either by
pressing the Insert key, or by doubled-clicking the OVR in the status bar
(note that Word 2002 and 2007 work differently in this respect, in that Word
2007 actually says Overtype or Insert, and you can toggle by clicking
instead of double-clicking).

I hope this helps...

 

[Guest]

Herb, that had to be the best answer I ever got but it did not help.
I have office 2007 but apparently word 2003?
In any eveent toggling back and forth the insert key appears to do nothing.
In addition- this is happening when I type in my yahoo groups - not just in
word.
any ideas?
BJ

Ordinarily, the Insert key toggles "overtype" mode on and off.

For Word 2007, right-click on the status bar (at the bottom of Word's
window... it's the area that [usually] tells you what page you're on, the %
by which the windows is zoomed, etc. When you right click the status bar,
you should see that a number of items are checked. Those are the status bar
elements that are enabled. If you click Overtype, you should see either the
word "Insert" or the word "Overtype" appear or disappear. With Overtype
checked in the right-click list, the indicator will remain on in the status
bar.

Now... press the Insert key and watch the status bar. Normally, pressing the
Insert key toggles between Insert and Overtype. You can also toggle by
clicking the word Insert or Overtype in the status bar.

In Insert mode, text you type causes existing text to scoot to the right. In
Overtype mode, text you type replaces existing text (with a few exceptions).

For Word 2002... What's probably happening at work is that you're
accidentally pressing the Insert key. When pressed, you should see the OVR
indicator toggling on/off. When it's on, you can turn it off either by
pressing the Insert key, or by doubled-clicking the OVR in the status bar
(note that Word 2002 and 2007 work differently in this respect, in that Word
2007 actually says Overtype or Insert, and you can toggle by clicking
instead of double-clicking).

I hope this helps...

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

I have the same problem- I Pressed the Insert key once - it did not help.
the other answer said toggle the OVR? i do not know what that is.
I am using Office 20077 on a new computer. Can you help- this is nerve
wracking?
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Now I'm confused about which version of Word you're using. If it's Word
2003, then this should work (assuming it's not a defective keyboard):

Tools - Options - Edit tab, remove the check next to Use the INS key for
paste, and make sure that Overtype mode is not checked.


In Word 2007, this should work:

Office button - Word Options - Advanced, Editing options section (top of
dialog box), place a check next to "Use the Insert key to control overtype
mode", and make sure that "Use overtype mode" is not checked.


If neither of these work, this might be one of those rare times that the
problem is actually the hardware. Do you happen to have an extra keyboard
lying around? If so, try using it instead of what you're using.

If not... then try unplugging the keyboard and plugging it back in. If that
doesn't fix it, then try rebooting.

If it's a laptop, then try rebooting. That should definitely reset the
Insert state. If it doesn't fix the problem, then I would suspect a hardware
problem.

Is it exhibiting the problem everywhere in Windows, or just in Word and your
internet browser?

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

Herb, that had to be the best answer I ever got but it did not help.
I have office 2007 but apparently word 2003?
In any eveent toggling back and forth the insert key appears to do
nothing.
In addition- this is happening when I type in my yahoo groups - not just
in
word.
any ideas?
BJ

Ordinarily, the Insert key toggles "overtype" mode on and off.

For Word 2007, right-click on the status bar (at the bottom of Word's
window... it's the area that [usually] tells you what page you're on, the
%
by which the windows is zoomed, etc. When you right click the status bar,
you should see that a number of items are checked. Those are the status
bar
elements that are enabled. If you click Overtype, you should see either
the
word "Insert" or the word "Overtype" appear or disappear. With Overtype
checked in the right-click list, the indicator will remain on in the
status
bar.

Now... press the Insert key and watch the status bar. Normally, pressing
the
Insert key toggles between Insert and Overtype. You can also toggle by
clicking the word Insert or Overtype in the status bar.

In Insert mode, text you type causes existing text to scoot to the right.
In
Overtype mode, text you type replaces existing text (with a few
exceptions).

For Word 2002... What's probably happening at work is that you're
accidentally pressing the Insert key. When pressed, you should see the
OVR
indicator toggling on/off. When it's on, you can turn it off either by
pressing the Insert key, or by doubled-clicking the OVR in the status bar
(note that Word 2002 and 2007 work differently in this respect, in that
Word
2007 actually says Overtype or Insert, and you can toggle by clicking
instead of double-clicking).

I hope this helps...

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

I have the same problem- I Pressed the Insert key once - it did not
help.
the other answer said toggle the OVR? i do not know what that is.
I am using Office 20077 on a new computer. Can you help- this is nerve
wracking?
(e-mail address removed)


:

Press the Insert key once.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup
so
all may benefit.

At work I have Word 2002 and every once in a while I'll accidently
get
into a
mode where, when trying to add verbiage to a line, for every
character
I
type
it takes one away; how can I turn that off?