# Selecting with Keyboard and Mouse

Many commands in Amaya act on the current selection. You can make a selection using the keyboard or the mouse, as described below.

No matter how you make the current selection, Amaya displays the type of the first selected element at the bottom of the window, followed by the types of the enclosing elements in the structure. This may be helpful when the document structure is complex.

For example, selecting a word in this sentence means that the status bar reads

`text \ p \ body \ html \ Document`

meaning that the thing selected is some text within a `p` element (which is within the body etc)

Selecting this structure element (for example click on the word structure, then press `esc`/`f2`) gives

`strong \ p \ body \ html \ Document`

## Selecting with the mouse

- To move the insertion point, click with the left mouse button.
- To select some text, drag across a region: hold down the left mouse button, move the mouse, and release the button when the desired text is selected.
- To select an entire word, double-click on any character of a word.
- To select a whole element such as a list item, click its bullet or number.
- To extend the selection, click with the left mouse button while holding down the `Shift` key.
- To select a structure element, click within the element you want and then select the desired structure level via the keyboard as described below

## Selecting from the keyboard

- To select structure elements using the keyboard:
  - Press the `Esc` key on Unix/Mac or the `F2` key on Windows to select the parent element in the document structure. Press the key several times to select containers (and everything in them) up the structure towards the root.
  - Press `Control -` (minus key) to select a child element.
  - Press `Control k` to select the next element at the same level, or at the level of the parent element if there is no next or previous child of the current level.
  - Press `Control j` to select the previous element at the same level, or at the level of the parent element if there is no previous child of the current level.
- To move the insertion point in the four directions, use the four arrow keys (`Left`, `Right`, `Up`, and `Down`). If there is no visible selection in the document window, Amaya generates a new selection at the top left corner of the window.
- To extend the current selection in one of these directions, hold down the `Shift` key while pressing the four arrow keys (`Shift-Left`, `Shift-Right`, `Shift-Up`, and `Shift-Down`).
- To move the insertion point to the beginning of the line, press the `Home` key.
- To move the insertion point to the end of the line, press the `End` Key.
- To extend the current selection to the current word, press `Alt-Enter`. If the selection is within a link, `Alt-Enter` will activate the link instead of selecting the current word.
- To move the current selection to the beginning of the previous word, press `Control-Left`.
- To move the current selection to the beginning of the next word, press `Control-Right`.
- To extend the current selection to the beginning of the previous word, press `Shift-Control-Left`.
- To extend the current selection to the end of the next word, press `Shift-Control-Right`.
- To scroll the document one line up, press `Control-Up`.
- To scroll the document one line down, press `Control-Down`.
- To scroll to the beginning of the document, press `Control-Home`.
- To scroll to the end of the document, press `Control-End`.

You can also select elements using the Structure view or select images.