To use different passages from a lengthy report in another document, you can copy and paste all those fragments one by one. Fortunately, there is a much more convenient method where you copy the marked text in one go.
Step 1: Manual method
Suppose you convert several fragments from an extensive report to a Word document want to copy. You can first highlight the text you need in the same way as you would use a highlighter on paper. To copy all those non-contiguous passages you can use the manual method. You select a marked passage, then press the Ctrl key and select a second passage. You repeat this until all fragments have been selected. On macOS, you use the Cmd key for this. That way you don’t make contiguous selections. Then press Ctrl + C (macOS Cmd + C) to copy the text.
Step 2: Find format
However, the longer the text, the greater the risk that this manual method will become time consuming and therefore tedious. There is a much easier way to select all highlighted sections at once so that you don’t forget any and can copy them all at once. Press Ctrl + H to bring up the dialog Find and replace to open. Then you use the tab Search. In this window, click on the button More so that this window is expanded. At the bottom left you see the section Search the button Formatting. When you click on that, you select the assignment To mark. If that goes well, you will see the choice at the top of this window Format: Mark. Then use the button in the middle of this window Searching in and you select Main document in the pop-up menu. You can also search within a specific section.
Step 3: Conditional formatting
Word indicates how many items it has found that match this criterion. Press the Esc key to close the dialog box or click the X in the top right corner of the dialog box. You will see that all marked text fragments are selected. Close this window and use Ctrl + C to copy the selected text blocks. You can then paste the selection into a new or another document, but the highlight is kept and every single piece of text is pasted on a new line. You can remove the marker by the function Paste options to use to paste the text without formatting.
