Cmd+Opt+Drag only selects items in bounds

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
January 26, 2021
41 replies
5643 views

Mass selecting elements in Figma can be a pain. Especially with the new changes to auto-layout sometimes elements will get nested 4 or 5 frames deep. In Sketch, you can press Cmd+Opt while dragging to select a group of objects. When you do this it will only select elements completely within the drag area. This makes mass selecting way more powerful. I’d love to see Figma copy it or come up with something better.

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Steven

It’s seems like it’s an existing Figma feature : Cmd+drag

Brian_ClayAuthor

CMD+drag is great. But if you have overlapping elements it will select whatever touches the bounding box. My proposal is a way to select only objects that are completely inside the bounds. This would help you avoid unintentional selections. If you have Sketch you should give it a try. It’s a game changer.

Hege

I really need this! I have asked all my designer friends, and they need it too

Hege

I need the feature from Sketch, where you can select only objects entirely contained in the selected area. In Sketch you hold option while draging, and then you could get only the objects you want even if some elements are partly overlapping.

This is an great example: Search for “Sketch shortcut: Precise selection” on this page

invisionapp.com

Amir_Binenfeld

Yes! please make this feature available! it’s a day to day struggle when creating complicated components.

harsha20599

New Participant

I literally need this. Please @figma, implement this as soon as possible!

Pushpal_Dey

Selection of elements is harder when they are overlapping.
So when two or more elements overlap e.g. let’s say a bunch of text fields over a box. Now if I want to select only the texts I will have to either lock the box first or move it out of the way to be able to select the texts.
Does anyone else experience this? Is anyone using a plugin or workaround to help solve this?, etc.

SOLUTION

There is a solution for this existing in other softwares. I am not sure if that can be achieved here in figma given that it is online.
You have two different ways to drag select.

If you left click and drag to the right you select everything that your selection box crosses(NOT FULLY INSIDE THE SELECTION BOX)
If you left click and drag to the left then you select everything that comes completely inside the selection box.

For reference check 3d modeling software Rhino3D. The selection of elements there work the same way as explained. Helps in selecting multiple overlapping items.