01 / CLIPBOARD · 5 min read
How to Select All on Mac: Shortcuts, Finder, and OCR
Command + A selects everything. Here is how to use it, how to pick several files in Finder, and what to do when text cannot be selected.
To select all on Mac, press Command + A (⌘A). It selects all the text in a document or web page, or all the files in the open Finder window. In Finder, hold Shift and click to select a range of files, or hold Command and click to pick files one by one.
Selecting is the first step to copying, moving or deleting things. Command + A does the big jobs, and two more tricks help you pick just the files you want.
Method 1: Select All with Command + A
On a Mac the shortcut is Command + A (⌘A), the same as Ctrl + A on Windows:
- Documents and notes: Selects all the text in Pages, Word, TextEdit and Notes.
- Web pages: Selects the whole page in Safari, Chrome and other browsers.
- Finder folders: Selects every file and folder in the open window.
- Spreadsheets: Selects all cells in Numbers and Excel.
Method 2: Select a Range of Files with Shift (⇧)
To select a row of files that sit next to each other in Finder:
- Click the first file.
- Hold down the Shift (⇧) key.
- Click the last file. Finder selects both files and everything in between.
Method 3: Select Separate Files with Command (⌘)
To pick files that are not next to each other:
- Hold down the Command (⌘) key.
- Click each file you want.
- To remove a file you picked by mistake, click it again while still holding Command (⌘).
Method 4: Use the Edit Menu
If the shortcut does not work in an app:
- Click Edit in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
- Choose Select All. The shortcut
⌘Ais shown next to it.
When You Cannot Select the Text
Some websites do not let you select their text, and words inside pictures, scanned PDFs or videos cannot be selected at all, so ⌘A will not help.
Tegaro can copy this text from the screen:
- Press Control + Option + T (⌃⌥T) and drag a box around the text. It is copied, ready to paste.
- Clipboard (⌃⌥V, then ⌘1 to ⌘9) keeps what you copied so you can paste it again later. Clipboard is off until you turn it on and needs Pro after the 14-day trial.
To select all files except a few in Finder, press Command + A, then hold Command and click the files you want to leave out.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Mac keyboard shortcut to select all?
Command + A (⌘A). It works like Ctrl + A on Windows in documents, web browsers and Finder folders.
How do you select several files that are not next to each other on Mac?
Hold down the Command (⌘) key and click each file you want in Finder.
Why does Command + A not select some text on a web page or image?
Some websites block text selection, and text inside images or PDF scans is not real text. You can copy it with Tegaro's text from screen shortcut, ⌃⌥T.
Ten Mac tools, one icon
Tegaro puts Clipboard, Clipboard, Displays, Power and more in one menu-bar icon. Everything is free for 14 days, no card needed; after that the core tools stay free and Pro unlocks the rest.