Impossible to select text

Question

Level 1

7 points

Impossible to select text

I have searched this problem everywhere and I haven't found an answer, just more questions.

I simply want to select text without the ipad selecting whatever it wants. I would like to be able to select a word or words without having to select everything around the word. I am able to do this on my pc and my android without problems, but when I try to use the ipad it just selects what it wants. i use the tiny handles select the word let go and then it highlights whatever is close, the whole sentence, other words, pictures? I simply want to select text from the webpage, is there a way to simply select a word? Thank you.

iPad Mini, iOS 10.2.1

Posted on Feb 19, 2017 8:57 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

rodken Author

Level 1

7 points

Feb 25, 2017 10:40 AM in response to rodken

Just wanted to say don't bother replying to this. I didn't find an answer, but today I saw an Android tablet for $80 and grabbed it. It workes perfect, every time I release the selection handles they stay where they are instead of jumping around like on the ipad. I guess i can still use the ipad for netflix, it does that well. Thanks for the help anyways!

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Answer 2

raina_b22

Community Specialist

Feb 20, 2017 8:09 AM in response to rodken

Hi rodken!

I see that you're having trouble selecting text on the iPad, and I'm happy to help. The following is from the iPad User Guide:

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.

iPad - Type and edit text

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.

Cheers!

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Answer 3

rodken Author

Level 1

7 points

Feb 20, 2017 11:46 AM in response to raina_b22

Thank you for the quick reply, I was hoping you weren't going to say that. I understand that's how it is supposed to work, but it does not. I do get it to work about one in ten times. I have tried a friends ipad and it reacts exactly the same way. I know it is not just me there are many many complaints about this with no answer. I can easily select text with other OS's, I do it all the time with my PC, my Android, even on my old Blackberry, so I was assuming the ipad could do it. If there is an update that fixes this problem please post back I would really appreciate it as it is extremely frustrating to the point where I just don't use the ipad. Thanks again for your time!

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Answer 4

Matt—

Level 1

20 points

Feb 20, 2017 11:52 AM in response to rodken

Odd. I've always found selecting text on Android a complete nightmare. On IOS it has always worked beautifully. Could you describe in a little more detail what actually happens when you try to select text?

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