How to select multiple files on a Mac: mastering the Command and Shift keys

If you’ve ever struggled with selecting multiple files, folders, or items on your Mac, you’re not alone. Whether you're organizing your photos, tidying up your desktop, or just trying to send several email attachments at once, learning this simple skill will save you time and frustration. In most apps on Mac (Finder, Photos, Mail, to name a few) you can select multiple items at once and act on them all at the same time rather than dealing with one item at a time. This allows you to things like delete a whole bunch of things at once, or move them all into the same folder. And when you are selecting files to upload to a website, some websites will allow you to select multiple documents in the same way.

The tools: Command and Shift keys

On your Mac keyboard, Command ⌘ and Shift are your go-to keys for selecting multiple items. Each works slightly differently depending on what you’re trying to do. Here’s how they work:

1. Using the Command key for specific selections

Think of the Command key as your "cherry-pick" option. It lets you select individual items, even if they’re not next to each other.

How to use it:

1. Hold down the Command ⌘ key.
2. Click on each file, folder, or item you want to select. You can release the Command key if your finger gets tired, just make sure you are holding it again while you click another item otherwise it will reset your selection to only that item.
3. If you Command-click an item again that was already selected, it will deselect.
4. Release the Command key when you’re done.

Example: If you’re looking through your vacation photos and want to select a few favorites that are scattered across a folder, hold Command and click each one.

Screenshot

2. Using the Shift key for a range of items

The Shift key is for selecting a group of items that are next to each other. It’s perfect when you want to grab a contiguous chunk all at once.

How to use it:

1. Click the first item in the group.
2. Hold down the Shift key.
3. Click the last item in the group. Everything in between will be selected automatically.
4. Release the Shift key.

Example: Need to select all the files from January in a folder sorted by date? Click the first file, hold Shift, then click the last one in January’s section.

Screenshot

Pro tip: Combine Command and Shift for advanced selections

You’re not limited to just one key at a time! You can combine the two for even more control:

1. Use Shift to grab a large group as in my instructions above.
2. Hold down Command ⌘ to add or remove individual files from your selection, allowing you to also choose items that are outside of the contiguous group, or deselecting exceptions that are inside of the group.

This is especially helpful if you accidentally include a file you don’t want, if you need to add a couple of extra files to your selection, or if you want to select all files except one or two.

What to do once you’ve selected files

Once you’ve made your selection, you can:

• Move them: Drag them to a new folder or external drive.
• Delete them: Drag them to the Trash or use Command + Delete.
• Open them: Double-click to open all selected files at once.
• Compress them: Right-click (or Control-click) and select "Compress" to create a single ZIP file.
• Perform just about any available action from the menu.

Troubleshooting common issues

• Accidentally lost your selection? If you click outside your selected items, you’ll deselect everything. Take a deep breath and try again. If you don't trust your mouse skills you may want to do this in smaller batches. I myself usually only do this with 20 to 40 items at a time.
• Using a trackpad? The process is the same—just use your fingers to click while holding Command or Shift.
• Sorting files before selecting: To make your selection easier, click the column headers in Finder (like Name, Date Modified, or Size) to sort items.

Bonus tip: This works in Windows as well!

This is not a Mac-exclusive feature. If you are also a PC user, the same trick works in Windows, though instead of the Command key you use the Control key.

Final thoughts

Mastering the Command and Shift keys for multi-select on your Mac is one of those small tricks that makes a big difference. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it.