iMac Sierra: How do I disable Select All or Automatic Text Replacement on Firefox/AOL mail to prevent accidental text deletion?

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Level 1

13 points

iMac Sierra: How do I disable Select All or Automatic Text Replacement on Firefox/AOL mail to prevent accidental text deletion?

Hi, I am looking for a way to turn off/disable "Select All" or at least turn off automatic text replacement on an old Imac (ca 2011) running Sierra.

It's for my 90-year old mom. She uses AOL for e-mail and has it happen all the time that she writes a long e-mail and then suddenly it's all gone and she has to start over. It's driving her crazy. I suspect she might accidentally click on Command A and then when she types another letter all of the previous text is gone. Often she doesn't notice right away, as she is looking at the letters of her keyboard instead of the written text and Command Z doesn't work to get it back by the time she realizes.

I am trying to find a way to either disable Command A altogether, or at least the automatic deletion of everything she typed when pressing just one other letter after accidentally highlighting everything. I already tried assigning a new key combination to Select All, but that didn't work, Command A still highlights everything.

She uses Firefox and AOL mail. The problem is mostly with AOL mail, as that's what she uses most often. If you have any suggestions, or other reasons why her mail may be disappearing, that would be great.

Thanks!

Earlier displays & monitors

Posted on Jan 20, 2026 10:54 PM

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Answer 1

MartinR

Level 7

24,444 points

Jan 21, 2026 6:33 AM in response to quiensera

quiensera wrote:

She uses AOL for e-mail and has it happen all the time that she writes a long e-mail and then suddenly it's all gone and she has to start over.

Webmail can be touchy when you spend a long time typing an email. All sorts of things can cause a loss of text or the entire email (accidental deletions, web timeouts, comm interruptions, etc.)

The only real solution is to write shorter emails. At least it reduces the risk.

You might also teach her how to save drafts as she goes along; that way at least if the email-in-progress gets deleted she can recall the previous saved draft.

When I need to write a long email, I type it in Word or other office app, then copy & paste the finished text into the email.

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