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How to select ALL the text on a web page at once

I have no trouble selecting a word, group of words or a paragraph from a read only page such as a web page, however I would like to be able to select ALL the text at once without having to drag the little blue dots. I know it is possible, because I have done it accidentally, and sometimes can do it by pressing and then sliding my finger. Is this a documented gesture or feature? And if so, what is the proper way to do it?

iPhone 4, iOS 4

Posted on Sep 29, 2010 2:16 PM

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5 replies

Sep 29, 2010 2:22 PM in response to jdbartram

This is from the USER'S MANUAL (Which I suggest you read).

"Select text: Tap the insertion point to display the selection buttons. Tap Select to select the adjacent word or tap Select All to select all text. You can also double-tap to select a word. In read-only documents, such as webpages, or email or text messages you’ve received, touch and hold to select a word".

Sep 29, 2010 4:34 PM in response to julieda

Yea, thanks, I've read that. It doesn't cover selecting all the text in one gesture, which is what I want to be able to do. This doesn't seem to be covered.

I've been fooling around since I wrote the first post, and discovered that if you tap and hold to display the selection buttons (as noted in your quote) and then drag one of the blue selection buttons to the top (or bottom) of the text, then the other button will jump to the bottom (or top) and you have effectively selected all the text. This is what I wanted to do.

The reason I wanted to do it is so I can select all the text in an article that I want to read, then copy and paste it into an app I just got, Speak it!, and then have the app read me the article while I get some exercise riding my stationary bike.

How to select ALL the text on a web page at once

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