File Manager: Selecting files

Before you copy, download, delete or otherwise act on items, you choose them by selecting their checkboxes. You can select one item or many at once.

Selecting items

• Click an item's checkbox to select it. Click it again to clear it.
• To select a range, click one checkbox, then hold Shift and click another — everything between the two is selected.
• To select everything in the folder, click the checkbox in the column header, or press Ctrl+A. On a phone or tablet, use Select All or Unselect All in the Actions menu — see Using a phone or tablet.
• To clear the whole selection, press Esc.

Selecting folders

A single click on a folder opens it. To select a folder without opening it, click its checkbox. See Navigating folders for more on moving around.

What the selection is used for

The toolbar shows how many items you've chosen, such as "5 items selected". Most actions work on the selected items, including Download, Copy, Cut, Rename, Delete and Share. For details of each, see Copy, cut and paste, Downloading files and Deleting.