How To Select Specific Text [Windows]

Have you ever tried to select text from a document or web page but couldn’t seem to quite make the exact selection you’re after without selecting the unwanted content around it?

In this tech tip, I show you several keyboard shortcuts that allow you to select the precise text you desire -down to the letter.

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As an IT Administrator, I work with documentation that include codes, commands and passwords that I often have to copy for use in other documents or applications. If these items are off by just one character, it can produce seriously undesirable results. Take this list of passwords below, for example. At a glance, it appears that you should be able to use the classic double-click or click-and-drag to select a password from each line. But unless you’re paying special attention, you would miss the space at the end of the password.

If you were to copy the highlighted selection and paste it into a password field, it would likely fail due to the space at the end. Also depending on the application you are using, attempting to make a precise text selection is further complicated if the desired text includes punctuation such as “.”, “!” or “?” as these characters could be interpreted as the end of a sentence, line or character block.

How To Select Specific Text Without Unwanted Surrounding Content

TIP: The method for precision content selection will vary slightly depending on whether you’re in an application that allows you to move the text input cursor. If the cursor is not available, you can select the first character or more using the mouse and then use the methods below.

How To Select Text Character By Character From The End Of A Line
1. Position the cursor at the end of the line using the mouse or keyboard arrow keys.
2. Hold down Shift while repeatedly pressing the ← until all of the desired characters are selected.
3. Perform the desired text operation such as:
Copy Ctrl+C or Cut Ctrl+X.

How To Select Character By Character From The Beginning Of A Line
1. Position the cursor at the beginning of the line using the mouse or keyboard arrow keys.
2. Hold down Shift while repeatedly pressing → until all of the desired characters are selected.
3. Perform the desired text operation such as:
Copy Ctrl+C or Cut Ctrl+X.

How To Select Whole Line Of Text From The Beginning Of A Line
1. Position the cursor at the beginning of the line using the mouse or keyboard arrow keys.
2. Hold down Shift while pressing End which will select text from the current position of the cursor to the end of the line.
3. Perform the desired text operation such as:
Copy Ctrl+C or Cut Ctrl+X.

How To Select  Whole Line Of Text From The End Of A Line
1. Position the cursor at the end of the line using the mouse or keyboard arrow keys.
2. Hold down Shift while pressing Home which will select text from the current position of the cursor to the beginning of the line.
3. Perform the desired text operation such as:
Copy Ctrl+C or Cut Ctrl+X.

How To Select Multiple Lines Of Text From The End Of A Line
1. Position the cursor at the end of the line using the mouse or keyboard arrow keys.
2. Hold down Shift while pressing Home which will select text from the current position of the cursor to the beginning of the first line.
3. Continue to hold the  Shift while repeatedly pressing  ↑ to select additional lines above or ↓ to select additional lines below.
4. Perform the desired text operation such as:
Copy Ctrl+C or Cut Ctrl+X.

How To Select All Remaining Text Above Or Below The Current Cursor Position
1. Position the cursor at the desired position using the mouse or keyboard arrow keys.
2. Hold down Shift + Ctrl while pressing Home to select all text from the current position of the cursor above or while pressing End to select all text below.
3. Perform the desired text operation such as:
Copy Ctrl+C or Cut Ctrl+X.

How To Select Specific Text On A Web Page
Sometimes you need to select text from a published resource such as PDFs and  web pages. And on most published resources, the cursor is not available and it can be difficult to select the exact text you need with the mouse without selecting unwanted content around it. The process for selecting specific text on these sorts of pages almost exactly match the methods listed above with the important exception that you must select one or more characters with the mouse first.

1. Select a character on the line you’d like to copy.
2. Hold down Shift while repeatedly pressing the ←, if you’re working from the end of the line or while repeatedly pressing the → if you’re working from the beginning of the line until all desired characters are selected.
3. Perform the desired text operation such as:
Copy Ctrl+C or Cut Ctrl+X.