There are situations where you may want to select multiple items at the same time. Learn how to select with the command, control and shift keys.
Examples, where this is useful, include attaching documents to an email. Or moving photos from one folder to another. This technique can also be used when selecting text in a document, or cells in a spreadsheet.
Using Control / Command to select
On a PC, hold the Ctrl (control) key and click on each item (using the mouse/trackpad) to select multiple items simultaneously.
The equivalent of this process on a Mac is to hold the Command key
This is a useful technique for copying, moving or attaching multiple documents to an email in one easy step.
- Select file 1.
- Hold down the ctrl / command key
- Click on file 3, then file 5, then file 6 and file 7.
These selected items can now be treated as a group. They can be moved, copied or deleted with one command.
Using shift to select
To select a range of items, use the Shift key.
Click on the first item. This will define the beginning of the range.
Hold the shift key and click on the last item in the range (file 10). All items from the first to the last will be selected.
These two methods can be used in conjunction with each other to make complex selections easily and efficiently. For example, one could select a range of items using the shift selection method then deselect only certain items using control (ctrl) / command click.