Why don’t I see “Select All” option when I highlight text?

Since I’ve updated to iOS 16.5, the “select all” option when highlighting text on my iPhone is no longer there. I want to see the “select all” option when I am typing something (highlighting the words I just wrote)


how to fix this?

iPhone 11

Posted on Jun 13, 2023 10:36 AM

Reply
18 replies

Jun 14, 2023 6:11 PM in response to MadameCassie

Hi MadameCassie,


The option to select all is not outlined as a method in the Apple Support article Select, cut, copy, and paste text on iPhone so it would appear you're not seeing that option because it was not made as an option.


You may provide feedback regarding your use of Apple products or software via the page Product Feedback - Apple for review.


Regards.


Oct 26, 2023 9:09 AM in response to MadameCassie

It is a feature. Apple determined that it is better for you not to be able to select all. All is too much for the user to handle.


Apple has instead chosen to only allow you to select small amounts of text because ALL is too much. Also, select all allowed some users to select all of an article or other text and this allowed them to save a whole story from a site.


This is not a profitable thing for publishers so Apple decided that the publisher should be taken care of over the user. Apple doesn’t just think that selecting all is bad for you as a user, but also bad for big businesses which are more important than the annoying user.


Please accept this and understand you are not the center of the world and your opinion is not important to Apple. In fact, if we can be honest, it’s kind of annoying that you think that your opinion matters to Apple to begin with.


Thank you for your patronage.

Nov 10, 2023 9:44 AM in response to MadameCassie

I figured it out. Woohoo. So (1) highlight the first word you want to delete. (2) when the blue dots appear take the end dot (end of the word) slide it to the beginning dot. The options will appear scroll over to select all. Note: Select all does not appear unless both dots are together at the beginning of your selection. Hope this helps everyone.

Nov 10, 2023 9:45 AM in response to Shonya

I figured it out. Woohoo. So (1) highlight the first word you want to delete. (2) when the blue dots appear take the end dot (end of the word) slide it to the beginning dot. The options will appear scroll over to select all. Note: Select all does not appear unless both dots are together at the beginning of your selection. Hope this helps everyone.

Why don’t I see “Select All” option when I highlight text?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.