Using the “Selection Pane” is a quick and effective method to remove text boxes in Word while preserving the text they contain. While the previous methods focus on using built-in features in Word to delete a text box without losing text, there are also alternative methods available.

Step 1: Open up a Word file. Remember to insert a text box or simply copy and paste one of yours if you opted to use a blank document. Step 2: Copy the text from the text box. Once you have your document ready, double-click on one of the text boxes that you want to delete. Select the text inside and press the Ctrl + C keys to copy.

You select them in the same way (by clicking the outer edge of the text box), but this time you’ll hold the Ctrl key (Command on Mac) while selecting them. Now just press the Delete key or right-click > Cut. The text boxes will then disappear from the document. If you removed a certain text box by accident, you can quickly recover it.

Text boxes can be useful for drawing attention to specific text and can also be helpful when you need to move text around in your document. Go to Insert > Text Box, and then select one of the pre-formatted text boxes in the Built-in section from the list, or select More Text Boxes from Office.com, or select Draw Text Box.