How to Select All
Method 1 of 4:
On Windows
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Use the keyboard shortcut. On any screen, window, or page on your computer, you can select every selectable item by pressing a couple of keys at the same time:- Click the window or page that you want to select.
- Press Ctrl and A at the same time.
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Use the Windows Explorer. If you're in a File Explorer window (e.g., your documents or This PC), you can use the menu items in the upper-left side of the window to select all:- Click a folder whose contents you want to select on the left side of the window.
- Click Home in the upper-left corner of the window.
- Click Select all in the "Select" section of the toolbar at the top of the window.
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Use the right-click menu. If your mouse has a right button, you can right-click most text or web pages to prompt the right-click drop-down menu and then click Select All.- If you don't have a right mouse button, use two fingers on your mouse's trackpad button or tap the trackpad with two fingers to bring up the drop-down menu.
Method 2 of 4:
On Mac
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Use the keyboard shortcut. On any screen, window, or page on your computer, you can select every selectable item by pressing a couple of keys at the same time:- Click the window or page that you want to select.
- Press ⌘ Command and A at the same time.
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Use the Edit menu. To do so, open a page on which you want to select items, then click Edit in the upper-left side of the screen and click Select all in the drop-down menu.- If Select all is greyed out, you can't use select all on the current page.
Method 3 of 4:
On iPhone
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Open a writing app. You can't use "Select All" on a regular iPhone screen (e.g., inside of the Settings app or on the Home Screen), but you can select all text on a Notes or Word app page.- This will also work for your writing in the Messages app.
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Tap the page. This will place your cursor on the page. -
Tap and hold a piece of text. A pop-up magnifier will appear after a moment. -
Release your finger. Once the magnifier appears, you can release your finger; at this point, a pop-up bar will appear above the text. -
Tap Select All. It's in the pop-up bar. Doing so will select all text on the page.
Method 4 of 4:
On Android
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Open an app with a text field. You can only use the "Select All" feature for your own writing.- For example, you might open a Word document.
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Tap the text field. This will place your cursor in the text field. -
Tap and hold the text you want to select. After a moment, a menu will appear at the top of the screen (or above the text). -
Tap Select all. It's at the top of the screen. This will select all of the text on the page.- In some cases, the Select all button will resemble four squares arranged into one big square.
- Some apps will have different contextual versions of Select all.
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