Regardless of the method, you can deselect all selected files and folders by simply clicking the left mouse button on an empty space in the file manager window.

Any information on a computer is saved in files of different sizes and formats. For more convenient storage of files, folders are used, which usually contain data grouped according to some criteria (games, music, photos, etc.).

Carrying out operations with files requires their preliminary selection. You can select files one at a time, several in a row, or all at once. You can select all files in a folder using the mouse, or just the keyboard.

Quick navigation through the article

Selecting with the mouse

The left and right mouse buttons can be used to select files. Necessary:

• Open the desired folder;
• In an empty space (at the top or bottom of the folder), press the left mouse button and drag the cursor from the first to the last file or vice versa;
• Performing similar actions while pressing the right mouse button will open a context menu in which you can select the desired operation (copy, delete, add to archive, etc.).

Using the Mouse and Keyboard

Special keyboard shortcuts and keyboard/left-click combinations are also used to select files. There are several ways:

• Press “Ctrl+A” in the English layout;
• Select the first file in the folder by left-clicking the mouse -> press and hold the “Shift” key -> click on the last file;
• Select the last file and, while holding “Shift”, click on the first one;
• Select the first file and press the key combination “Sift+End”;
• Select the last file and press the key combination “Shift+Home”;
• Click on the first file and, holding “Ctrl” on the keyboard, click on all the others in sequence.

Selecting using menu commands

In the Windows operating system, folders open in windows that have a line with menu commands, including actions for selecting all files. To do this you need:

• Open the desired folder;
• Execute the command “Arrange” -> “Select All” (in Windows 7), or “Edit” -> “Select All” (in Windows XP and below).

Using a File Manager

Users who are accustomed to using special programs when working with files can use a file manager to select all files in a folder:

• Open Total Commander (or other manager);
• Select “Selection” -> “Select All” from the menu.

If the folder contains other subfolders in addition to files, then in the file manager you need to run the command: “Select” -> “Select all” -> “Files/folders” -> “Only files”.

Often you need to select several files at once. And there are several ways to do this. The first method allows you to select several located at some distance from each other.

• Find the button on your keyboard Ctrl(it's in the bottom row on the left), press and hold it.
• After that, point the arrow at the next file and click once with the left mouse button.
• Next, point the arrow at another file and left-click. All files you click on should be highlighted in blue (highlighted).
• Now let go Ctrl.

Ctrl:

The second method allows you to select several that are located next to each other.

• Point the arrow at the icon of one of the files and click once with the left mouse button.
• Find the button on your keyboard Shift(it is in the second row from the bottom from the left), press and hold it.
• After this, point the arrow at any other file (even if it is not a neighboring file, but located two from the first one) and click once with the left mouse button.
• Thus, you and I have selected several files at once, starting from the first one you clicked on and ending with the one you clicked on the second time. And all the files between us are also highlighted, they are highlighted in blue.
• Now let go Shift.

Still have questions? Watch the video on how to select multiple files using Shift:

You can select text in documents and files in folders not only with the mouse, but also with the keyboard. If you have to type a lot and the keys are always at your fingertips, this turns out to be even more convenient than moving the cursor across the screen. In this article we will tell you how to select text and files using the keyboard, and in addition, you may be interested in our previous articles -, and.

Text selection

If you need to select all the text in a document, on a web page, or in a chat, just press the +[A] (Russian [Ф]) keys. This combination is universal and works in almost any application. Just keep in mind that if you try to highlight the text of an article on the site in this way, a lot of unnecessary things will end up in the selection - menu items, text from side panels, a line about copyright protection, etc.

If you do not need to select everything, but only a certain fragment of text, hold down the key and press the arrow keys. When you press the right arrow, letters to the right of the cursor will be highlighted in sequence, and when you press the left arrow, letters to the left of the cursor will be highlighted. And if you press the up or down arrow, the selection area will sequentially increase by one line up or down, respectively.

If you hold down and press the key, the text will be selected from the cursor to the beginning of the line, and the key will highlight the text from the cursor to the end of the line. To select large fragments, you can use the (select up) and (select down) keys.

Selecting files

The keyboard shortcut +[A] mentioned above is suitable not only for working with text, but also for selecting all files in a folder. And a group of files can be selected using a key in the same way as text (just don’t forget to select one file with the mouse first). By pressing the right or left arrow keys together, you can select one file at a time, and the up or down arrows select rows of files. When used in conjunction with the or key, you can select large groups of files above or below the current one. And the and keys select all files from the current one to, respectively, the first or last in the folder.

There are a few simple rules that will allow you to quickly select multiple files or folders in Explorer. In addition, Windows has a convenient way to select all or several files or folders with check marks. How all this is done, read below.

How to enable highlighting in Explorer using checkboxes

In new versions of Windows, there is a convenient way to mark many files or folders at once, namely, simply check them. After this, as usual, you can perform delete, copy, move operations. However, this feature is disabled by default. If you want to enable it, read the instructions below on how to do it. Everything is shown using Windows 8 as an example.

Open File Explorer and from the Ribbon menu, select View and then Options, as shown in the image below.

The Folder Options window will open, allowing you to customize the appearance and functionality. In it, also go to the tab called “View”, find the “Use checkboxes to select elements” checkbox and check it. A sample is shown in the picture below.

Don't forget to click OK to save your changes. Now you can make marks with a simple click of the mouse! It should look something like this:

Using the topmost checkbox, you can immediately mark all files and folders. To mark one or more files, click the checkboxes next to them. To cancel the selection, click again.

If you don’t like this setting, then go to the settings again and return everything as it was by simply unchecking the box.

There was an important part of the article, but without JavaScript it is not visible!

Selection without using “checkmarks” with the Ctrl key

You can do without checkboxes. If you need to select several files or folders, first select the first file by clicking, and then hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and click on the other files you need. All of them will be highlighted.

Moreover:

THIS method works not only in Explorer, but also in many other programs. And no checkboxes needed!

I recommend remembering this particular method of multiple selection and using it in all programs that support multiple selection of something. Exactly so, since we are talking not only about files, but also, for example, rows in tables, words in Word and much, much more.

How to select many files or folders at once with the Shift key

Also a universal method. To select many files nearby, first click on the first one. Then go to the last file in the list (scroll if necessary, but don't click - otherwise you'll lose the selection!), press Shift and click on the file.

This method is also included in the list of universal ones and is suitable for selecting adjacent ranges of something in programs running Windows. Remember it.

How to select all files or folders at once

Here everything is similar to selecting all the text: just press Ctrl + A

This is the most universal method, which, along with others, is discussed in courses when studying Windows, Microsoft Word and other programs running under this operating system.

Let's sum it up

If you need to work in Windows Explorer and you don’t want to use other file managers, for example, Total Commander, then at least remember and use the methods shown in this article for multiple selection of files and folders. This allows you to speed up work in the system and is generally very convenient.

Difficult to remember? Well then, select files and folders manually “one by one” for half a day!