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User profile for user: jojojona
jojojona Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

drag and highlight on a mac

Hello,


I'm new to Mac. In windows you can click and highlight text and then keep dragging to highlight all the text you want. You can also click and drag the window of a problem.


How do I do this on a Mac book Pro I am lost on how to do that. I know you can click on the left click and hold it down on the trackpad and then drag it in any way you want. However, I'm having trouble on just tapping on the trackpad and then dragging the window or text highlight you want. Having just a tap to track would really help me a lot.


Can somebody please advise me on how to do this?? I know that the windows laptops can do this by just tapping and dragging.


Thanks in advance to any help. By the way, I just upgraded to the new operating system mountain lion. It was not able to do that in the previous version either.


Jona

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Jul 27, 2012 11:21 AM

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User profile for user: RobotPi
RobotPi
User level: Level 1
55 points

Posted on Jul 27, 2012 12:10 PM

You'll need to get used to your new Mac's trackpad and this will happen naturally the more you use it. When I upgraded from an older MacBook Air (which has a physical button at the botton ot the trackpad) to a newer machine (which doesn't), it took me more than a few days to adjust - like you I found these multi-finger manipulations tricky. Don't worry it gets easier, quickly as you use it more.

The easiest way I found is to use two hands. With your left tap down on the touch pad (to start the select) and hold it there, while with your right, touch the trackpad and swipe downward to extend the selection. If the text continues past the bottom of the window, you'll notice the Mac will start scrolling the window (holding the selection), once you move the pointer just below the bottom of the window.


Good luck!

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User profile for user: RobotPi
RobotPi
User level: Level 1
55 points

Jul 27, 2012 12:10 PM in response to jojojona

You'll need to get used to your new Mac's trackpad and this will happen naturally the more you use it. When I upgraded from an older MacBook Air (which has a physical button at the botton ot the trackpad) to a newer machine (which doesn't), it took me more than a few days to adjust - like you I found these multi-finger manipulations tricky. Don't worry it gets easier, quickly as you use it more.

The easiest way I found is to use two hands. With your left tap down on the touch pad (to start the select) and hold it there, while with your right, touch the trackpad and swipe downward to extend the selection. If the text continues past the bottom of the window, you'll notice the Mac will start scrolling the window (holding the selection), once you move the pointer just below the bottom of the window.


Good luck!

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drag and highlight on a mac

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