select text

To select text, do any of the following:

  • Select one or more characters: Click in front of the first character, then drag across the characters you want.

  • Select a word: Double-click the word.

  • Select a paragraph: Triple-click in the paragraph.

  • Select an item in a list: Click its bullet, number or letter.

  • Quickly select a range of text without dragging: Click in front of the first character, then Shift-click at the end of the text you want to select. You can select just a few characters or a large amount of text across paragraphs or pages.

  • Select non-contiguous text: Press and hold the Command key while selecting two or more non-adjacent words or ranges of text.

    Note: You can’t select non-contiguous text within a comment.

You can select a range of continuous text or multiple non-contiguous selections only within the same area of a document — for example, within the document body, or within a single text box, shape or table cell.

To deselect all text selections, click anywhere on the page outside a selection. To deselect only one or some portion of your non-contiguous selections, press and hold the Command key, then select the text you want to exclude.