the editing tools have not been working in Word for several months.

Hi, @An Dier

First, please check whether this happens in a brand-new blank Word document as well. This will help determine whether the issue is with Word itself or only certain documents.

Also, in Word, go to "Help" > "Check for Updates" and install any available Office updates.

To help narrow down the issue:

1. What macOS version are you using?
2. What Word version/build do you have? You can check under "Word" > "About Microsoft Word."
3. Does this happen with every Word document, including a new blank document, or only specific files?

It happens in all documents. I have been out of the country and thought the chat function wasn't available because of that. Now I am back in the US and still not able to have a live person talk me through it. I have spent hours searching the FAQ's etc. Really killing me.

Thank you for letting me know.

The community is here to help, and I can continue troubleshooting this with you here.

Since it happens in all Word documents, I’d like to narrow down whether this is specific to the Word app on your Mac.

1. What macOS version are you using?
2. What Word version/build do you have under "Word" > "About Microsoft Word"?
3. If you open Word for the web at https://www.office.com, can you highlight, delete, cut, and move text normally there?

Thanks!

Version 16.109.1 Word for Mac

and Sequoia 15.2 (24C101)

I don't know what copilot is, and since I was out of country for months I had no one to ask. Frankly I am a grandma who is a luddite. All I want to do is be able to use Word and Excel and they never seem to work properly.