how to stop editing and make the blue highlights go away?

Hello again, FreshOutTheWash.

Thanks for the additional information in regard to your issue persisting even after tapping on another area of your screen. One simple troubleshooting step that may help resolve your issue is Restart/Resetting your iOS device:

Restart or reset your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Start with the Restart steps first:

Kind Regards,

Pedro.

I Know it has been a while since anyone has replied on here but this is the only place I could find that addressed this particular issue and I'm hoping maybe someone might come back and help me out... Please!

This exact same thing happens to me all the time! I HATE IT! Every time I'm scrolling through a page random text, near put my finger to scroll, gets highlighted and tapping elsewhere on the screen either does absolutely nothing no matter where I tap or it selects the nearest text to where I tapped. it is nearly impossible to de-select the highlighted text. it only moves around to the text closest to where I tap. It is so aggravating and happens every time I'm scrolling through a web page or social media link, even some emails. Please tell me there is a way to fix it. restarting/rebooting the phone does nothing. I have an iPhone 6 IOS 9. Is there another way to deselect text besides taping the screen outside the selected text or a way to disable the select option all together? I have had this issue for a few years, every phone and every new software upgrade, I still have the same problem.

Any help you could give me would be appreciated!

Thank you

I had the same problem, I must say is very frustrating, it happens mostly when browsing, sometimes when typing it vibrates and skip. I'm happy to say that I have solved the problem on my iPhone 6s+ I simple turn off 3D Touch. Pls let me know if it works on yours. Enjoy.

I found something that works for me. Tap the blue area, wait for context menu to open and tap blue area again and tap somewhere off of it "quickly." The context menu must be present for this to work.

Hello there, FreshOutTheWash.

If the guidelines you're using to highlight text on your iPhone are the ones found in the online iPhone user guide (referenced below), then you can unselect it just by tapping on another part of the screen appart from the selected text:

Edit text - iPhone

Select text. Tap the insertion point to display the selection options. Or double-tap a word to select it. Drag the grab points to select more or less text. In read-only documents, such as webpages, touch and hold to select a word.

You can cut, copy, or paste over selected text. With some apps, you can also get bold, italic, or underlined text (tap B/I/U); get the definition of a word; or have iPhone suggest an alternative. Tap to see all the options.

Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.

Cheers,

Pedro.

I am frequently having the same problem. Taping on other areas of the screen is not working. Resetting the phone is does not solve the problem. For me the problem does not occur every time I select text (or as frequently occurs, accidentally select text while scrolling around a web page). But it happens very frequently. Further, the blue highlighting can be moved from word to word, but you can't make it go away. In fact, usually I get so frustrated that I'm tapping all over the screen and it's just moving the highlighting to wherever I tapped.

This problem occurred on my iPhone 4s running ios8 and is now my iPhone 6 running ios9.

Please help!

Hi Guys

I have this exact problem as well, and I have it on multiple devices including an iPhone 6S+ and an iPad Air2, both with iOS 9.2.1. I find it very annoying and I'm amazed that I don't see more complaints about it.

I have a suggestion on how to get rid of the highlighting when it happens, but I've found no way to prevent the problem from recurring.

Suggestion: Tap the "Show Tabs" button in Safari:

When it happens in Safari, if I go to the "tabs overview" view and then return, the highlighting is deselected.

Note that I have found that the problem occurs less frequently in ios 9 than it did in ios 8, and a bit less frequently yet in ios 9.1.2. Also note that In ios 8 it happened very consistently whenever I was zoomed-in on a page.

Pete

I Am also having the same problem. I noticed it when upgrading from an iPhone 5c to my iPhone 6s Plus.

I am also dealing with this issue on my iPad. As others have already stated, restarting/resetting does nothing. Leaving the screen & re-entering will delete the select text brackets, but that becomes a pain, too. I seem to have acquired this problem when upgrading to iOS 8, i'm currently running iOS 9.3.1 with no improvement whatsoever. I haven't seen a hint of a solution in any of the posts, so i'm hoping someone sees this latest cry for help and offers a solution. I know there are much worse issues that many people are coping with, but this does become quite annoying. HELP, PLEASE!!

I am annoyed by this as well. It seems to happen primarily with safari on iOS devices (at least that is when it is most noticeable).

Hi

I don't see any solution. I need help with this issue too.

I believe our/my problem is the way we/I navigate. When I am reading anything electronic my hand normally lingers as I read. It is a subconscious gesture I can't control. As I read I keep my finger on the page as I constantly move the page. Perhaps due to how fast I am reading or my preference to have the line I am reading alway be directly under the cut of line/address bar. If what I am reading is always the first line on the page my reading speed doubles and I never lose my place. The result is that every time I touch the screen this annoying menu opens. It constantly covers the words I am trying to read. If I touch another place before I even think about it the menu is open again. I consciously have to think " keep your fingers off the page, keep your fingers up" but the moment I think about what I am reading my finger goes back onto the screen and the dam menu opens again. I believe this is an issue for a lot of people. Most often I need to change browsers if I am really researching something.

Is there a way to permanently disable this menu. I do use it from time to time but it would increase the ease at which I could use safari if I could only turn on the copy/lookup/... menu only when I need it. 90 percent of my time is spent reading and only 10 prevent my time in safari or less do I need that menu.

Please help all of us who scroll and read at the same time.

I hope I have explained our problem in a way that is ease to understand.

This is a problem because of the way we read thus it is almost impossible to change the automated gestures we associate with reading. I learnt to read with my finger on the book, following the text as I read. This gesture has been ingrained in me since I learnt to read. I doubt I could ever unlearn it. Scrolling and reading is the online version of this same behaviour. It may be something people with visual disabilities use in higher numbers too as an ease of accessibility for the written word. People reading a second language and children learning to read all are likely to have similar issues. Most of the people in these types of groups are not likely to voice their concerns. They may not even be able to communicate well enough to write and submit a formal question. I would appreciate if you could look into this issue and give it special priority as I strongly believe this is an issue that is more problematic for people with special needs. I didn't start out my reply expecting this result. The more and more I think of it, my behaviour is something I have seen children do, people with sight problems or other learning issues like dyslexia. I would like to ask you look into this issue on behalf of anyone who likely has this problem but can't voice their concerns.

Thank you very much. I think you could really help a potentially lot of people!

Have a great day.

This is in response to JLBarkwell2016 ~ Since your issue is while reading, have you tried cutting the finger off of a glove & slipping it over your pointing finger so the screen does not detect a naked finger? You could also try fabric tape on the contact area of the finger. If the palm of your hand is also contacting the screen, you could try wearing the entire glove. Too thin & the screen will detect your finger thru the glove, so i would try something slightly thicker.

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