How to: move text in Word 2010 using the Spike

Copy and paste is one of the most-used functions in Microsoft Word. In Word 2010, though, there’s a function called the Spike that can be even more useful for moving text and pictures around a document.

The Spike is an extended clipboard feature of Word 2010. It allows you to remove two or more items from different parts of a document and reinsert them as a group in a new location in the document.

This can be very handy for editing large documents, piecing together research projects, arranging agendas, compiling reports and more.

How it works:

1. Select the text, image or graphic you want to move and hit Ctrl+F3 (or Command+F3 on Mac OS)

2. Do the same for all of the elements you want to move and they will be added to the Spike (you won’t see this – it happens behind the scenes like copy and paste).

3. Now place the cursor where you want to insert the contents of the spike and hold Ctrl+Shift+F3 (Command+Shift+F3 on Mac). The elements will be pasted in the same order in which you spiked them!