Select or cancel the selection of objects

You have several ways in Microsoft Expression Blend to select objects on the artboard or to cancel their selection.

To select an object

Do one of the following:

  • Using the Selection tool Cc295173.2ff91340-477e-4efa-a0f7-af20851e4daa(en-us,Expression.30).png, select the object on the artboard. You can select the Selection tool in the following ways:

    • Click SelectionCc295173.2ff91340-477e-4efa-a0f7-af20851e4daa(en-us,Expression.30).png in the Tools panel.

    • Press V.

    • Hold the CTRL key.

    Tip

    To select an object that is underneath another object, hold down ALT and click once for each layer of objects.

    Clicking an object on the artboard when you are using the Selection tool activates the parent container of the object.

    For more information, see Make a layout panel the active container.

  • Click Direct Selection Cc295173.6dd6571f-c116-451d-8dd2-1f88b8406362(en-us,Expression.30).png in the Tools panel, and then select the object on the artboard. Double-clicking an object on the artboard when you are using the Direct Selection tool activates the parent container of the object.

  • In the Objects and Timeline panel, click the object.

  • To select all objects under the root container object (LayoutRoot), click Select All on the Edit menu. If any objects under the root container object contain child objects, the child objects are not selected.

  • On the artboard, right-click an object, point to Set Current Selection, and then click an object on the shortcut menu. The Set Current Selection shortcut menu displays all objects in the hierarchy, starting with the object that was right-clicked, and ending with the topmost object (for example, the Window object).

To select more than one object at a time

Do one of the following:

  • Hold down CTRL when you select multiple objects.

  • In the Objects and Timeline panel, hold down SHIFT when you select two objects that are in the same parent container. Holding SHIFT selects all objects between those two objects.

  • Click Direct SelectionCc295173.6dd6571f-c116-451d-8dd2-1f88b8406362(en-us,Expression.30).png in the Tools panel, and then, starting in an empty part of the artboard, drag to draw a marquee around the objects that you want to select.

To cancel the selection of one or more objects

Do one of the following:

  • In the Tools panel, click either Selection Cc295173.2ff91340-477e-4efa-a0f7-af20851e4daa(en-us,Expression.30).png or Direct SelectionCc295173.6dd6571f-c116-451d-8dd2-1f88b8406362(en-us,Expression.30).png, and then hold down CTRL when you click the object on the artboard.

  • Hold down CTRL, and then click the object in the Objects and Timeline panel.

To cancel the selection of all objects

Do one of the following:

  • On the Edit menu, click Select None (CTRL+SHIFT+A).

  • On the artboard, either click the title bar of the window or click a blank area. The window is selected.

See also

Concepts

Moving and transforming objects