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How to select multiple files on a Mac in 4 ways

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MacOS is an intuitive and user-friendly system, and it makes it simple to do a variety of actions. That includes selecting and organizing multiple files at the same time.

If you need to move some stuff around on your computer, here’s how to select multiple files on Mac, with four different options based on what you’re trying to do.

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Option 1: Select one at a time

A screenshot of how to select multiple files on mac using command and click.

This is the best option if you’re looking to select a variety of files in a folder but you don’t necessarily want all of them. To select various files, the easiest way is to hold Cmd and click on the files you want. As long as you have the Command button held down, you can select as many files as you want. They’ll be highlighted in blue, so you can easily see which ones you’ve selected.

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Option 2: Click and drag

A screenshot of how to select multiple files on mac by clicking and dragging.

If you’re looking to grab a big group of files rather quickly, you can always click on an empty space and drag. This will create a box that you can resize as you drag. Just pull it over the files you want, and they will automatically be selected.

From here, you can click on the group and then drag and drop it into a different folder or mass-delete them. Whatever you want to do.

Option 3: Select all on Mac

A screenshot of how to select all on Mac by clicking Command A.If you’re looking to quickly grab all the files on your desktop or in finder, the best way is just to hit Cmd + A. This will select everything in that section, whether it’s two files or two hundred. This is great for quickly moving things around or deleting items en masse.

Option 4: First and last

A screenshot of how to select multiple files on mac by clicking on the first file and shift-clicking on the last.

If you are looking to select multiple files arranged top to bottom, you can easily grab the ones you want by clicking the first, then holding Shift and clicking the last one. This will select those files and everything in between them.

For more tips on the Mac, check out our tips and tricks guide. You can also read our review for the latest MacBook Pro and our comparisons between the original M1 MacBook Pro and the newest.

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Caleb Clark
Caleb Clark
Caleb Clark is a full-time writer that primarily covers consumer tech and gaming. He also writes frequently on Medium about…
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