A lot of my clients have difficulty selecting items on the Mac. The reason is always the same. No one ever showed them how.
Thankfully, there are only three kinds of selection, Sequential Selection, Non-Sequential Selection, and Marquee Selection.
Sequential Selection
This is a selection that includes all items between the first item selected and the last item selected. It’s easier to understand if we look at an example.
In the example below, I wanted to select all items between Item A and Item F.
To do this, I click on Item A, hold down the Shift Key and click on Item F.
Non Sequential Selection
This is a selection comprised of items that are not in any particular order. Again, the example below should help clarify.
Here, I want to select Items A, C, E, and H.
To do this I click on Item A, hold down the Command Key and click on Item C, E, and H.
Don’t worry if you accidentally select the wrong item. Clicking on it again will deselect it.
Marquee Selection
In some areas on the Mac, the sequential method does not work… but you can select in another way.
The example below uses the Finder in icon view.
Outside the first icon, you want to select, click and hold down your mouse button.
With the button still held down, drag the cursor across the screen. It changes into a selection marquee (the translucent rectangle shown above).
Any item the marquee touches becomes part of the selection.
Using the marquee method and the non-sequential method, you can select exactly the items you need.
That’s all there is to it.
Other Useful Tips
Here are some other tips perfect for new Mac users:
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