It’s one of the first minor annoyances every first-year law
student faces: creating the § in a Word document. There are ways to get around learning
this skill, such as copying and pasting the section symbol from elsewhere or writing out the word
“section.” However, for legal writing purposes, it is probably best to know how
to get the § in N.C. Gen. Stat. §7A-13 without resorting to a work-around. The UNC Law Library decided it was time to update one of our most popular
posts in the history of the Carolina Blawg: How
to Create the Section Symbol in Word.
Instructions for Word on a PC
-
Click
on the “Insert” tab at the top of the screen, so that the Insert ribbon
appears.
-
Click
on the “Symbol” button all the way to the right.
-
Select
the “More Symbols” tab.
-
Select
the “Special Character” tab.
-
Select
the Section symbol.
-
Click on the “Insert” button.
Instructions for Word on a Mac
-
Click
on the “Insert” tab at the top of the screen, so that the Insert ribbon
appears.
-
Click
on the “Advanced Symbol” button all the way to the right.
-
Select
the “Special Character” tab.
-
Select
the Section symbol.
-
Click on the “Insert” button.
Creating a Shortcut
Does this seem like a lot of steps to take each time you
need to insert the section symbol?
Assign a Shortcut Key to the section symbol by clicking “Shortcut
Key” (on a PC) or “Keyboard Shortcut” (on a Mac) while the section symbol is
highlighted in the steps above. Sara Sampson’s original blog post recommended
Alt + S, since it isn’t assigned to anything by default. Once you’ve created
the shortcut, insert your section symbols with ease!
Posted by Nicole M. Downing on Wed. February 26, 2020 8:30 AM
Categories:
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