Extend text selection in any application

[Matthew16]

In some programming applications there are keyboard shortcuts to extend or retract text selections by character, word, or line.

Is there a way I can make a macro for this to work in any application, such as Chrome?

[JMichaelTX]

@Matthew16

In some programming applications there are keyboard shortcuts to extend or retract text selections by character, word, or line.

I have found the standard macOS keyboard shortcuts to work fine in most apps.
Most, if not all, are variations of the SHIFT key plus other modifiers plus one of the arrow keys.

Are these not working for you?

[ccstone]

@Matthew16

In some programming applications there are keyboard shortcuts to extend or retract text selections by character, word, or line.

Hey Matt,

Every macOS application and system text field has keyboard shortcuts for basic editing (except some really rare oddball cruft).

There is also some hidden Emacs-style compatibility that works in many places (if you want to work that hard).

OS X Text System Keybindings

Introduction The OS X text system includes a user-customizable mechanism for binding keystrokes to actions. Some bindings are built into the system by default, many of which might be unfamiliar to you. More importantly, you can easily add your own bindings. This post aims to provide comprehensive documentation of the keybinding system. It brings together material extracted from widely scattered and generally unknown sources. First, let me say why I think this is appropriate for posting on this…

-Chris

[Matthew16]

@JMichaelTX

I have found the standard macOS keyboard shortcuts to work fine in most apps.Most, if not all, are variations of the SHIFT key plus other modifiers plus one of the arrow keys.

Are these not working for you?

@ccstone

Every macOS application and system text field has keyboard shortcuts for basic editing (except some really rare oddball cruft).

I didn't know this was a standard shortcut, but I think I understand now why I was having trouble: I was reading a PDF. After reading your responses I did a quick test and the global shortcuts for altering text selections do not work in PDFs, whether viewed in Chrome or Preview.

@ccstone

There is also some hidden Emacs-style compatibility that works in many places (if you want to work that hard).

Before I dive into figuring this out, do you think there's even a chance it could work in PDFs?

[JMichaelTX]

@Matthew16

but I think I understand now why I was having trouble: I was reading a PDF. After reading your responses I did a quick test and the global shortcuts for altering text selections do not work in PDFs, whether viewed in Chrome or Preview.

Yep, PDFs are a major exception to the macOS UI.
This is even true when viewing in Adobe Acrobat Pro XI.

I have found that with PDFs, in Acrobat, most of the standard shortcuts don't work, or don't work as expected.

However, the shortcut do sometimes work, but in a different way.
For example:

• SHIFT-CMD-RightArrow extends the selection only one word, NOT to the end of the line (as is normal).

So you may have to just play around with the shortcuts in a PDF until you find something that works for you. One note: starting a selection with your mouse, and then doing a SHIFT-CLICK at a lower location usually will extend the selection as expected.

Good luck, and let us know if you discover any shortcuts that work well.

[ccstone]

@Matthew16

I think I understand now why I was having trouble: I was reading a PDF. After reading your responses I did a quick test and the global shortcuts for altering text selections do not work in PDFs, whether viewed in Chrome or Preview.

Hey Matt,

Ah. PDFs are generally not editable, so some genius decided that keyboard shortcuts for “editing” were completely unnecessary.

Forget about keyboard-selection...

Apple has always been a little too mouse-centric.

-Chris