Selection modes

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This page shows old instructions for MuseScore 2.
For MuseScore 4 users, see Selection modes.

Objects in the score—such as notes, measures, articulations etc.—can be selected in several ways: (1) one at a time, (2) as a continuous range, or (3) as a list.

Select a single object

Most score objects can be selected by simply clicking on them in "normal" (i.e. not note-input) mode.

Select a single note

Make sure you are not in note input mode;
Click on a note.

Note: Selecting a single note then copying and pasting it, will only copy and paste the pitch—not duration or other properties (such as stemless). To copy the entire note, including all properties, you need to hold down Shift—as for chord selection (below).

Select a chord

Make sure you are not in note input mode;
Press and hold Shift, then click on a note in the chord.

Select a single measure

Click on a blank space within the measure.

Note: To select a range of consecutive measures, see Shift selection and Shift + click selection (below).

Select a continuous range of objects

There are several ways to select a continuous range of notes, chords or measures:

1. Shift selection

Make sure you are not in note entry mode;
Select the first note, chord, rest or measure in the range. You can extend the selection up or down to adjacent staves, if needed, using Shift+↑ or ↓;
Then choose one of the following options:
- To advance the selection one chord at a time to the right: Press Shift+→.
- To advance the selection one chord at a time to the left: Press Shift+←.
- To advance the selection one measure at a time to the right: Press Shift+Ctrl+→ (Mac: Shift+Cmd+→).
- To advance the selection one measure at a time to the left: Press Shift+Ctrl+← (Mac: Shift+Cmd+←).
- To advance the selection to the beginning of the line: Press Shift+Home (Mac: Shift+Fn+←).
- To advance the selection to the end of the line: Press Shift+End (Mac: Shift+Fn+→).
- To extend the selection to the beginning of the score: Press Shift+Ctrl+Home (Mac: Shift+Cmd+Fn+←).
- To extend the selection to the end of the score: Press Shift+Ctrl+End (Mac: Shift+Cmd+Fn+→).

2. Shift + click selection

To select a range of notes or rests:

Make sure you are not in note entry mode;
Click on the first note or rest in the range;
Press and hold Shift, then click on the last desired note or rest.

Note: The final selected element can be in the same staff or in staffs above or below the initial note/rest. All selected elements will be enclosed in a blue rectangle, including associated lines and articulations (but not voltas). You can repeat the operation to extend the selected range as required.

Select a range of measures

Click on a blank space in the first desired measure;
Hold down Shift, then click on a space in the last measure of the desired range.

Note: As with selecting notes, the range can be extended vertically as well as horizontally.

3. Drag selection

This method can be used to select notes or rests, or, independently, to select non-note symbols such as staccato dots, lyrics etc.:

Press and hold Shift, then drag the cursor across the desired range.

4. Select All

This method selects the whole musical score including notes, rests and associated elements. Use one of the following options:

Press Ctrl+A (Mac: Cmd+A).
From the menu bar, select Edit → Select All.

5. Select section

This method is used to select a section—a region of the score starting and/or ending with a section break:

Click on an empty space in a measure in the section;
From the menu bar, select Edit → Select Section.

Note: See Copy and paste: Selection filter to disable certain types of elements from being selected in a range selection.

Select a list of objects

To select a list (or discontinuous range) of score elements:

Click on the first element;
Hold down Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) and successively click on the desired additional elements.

Note: This method cannot be used to select measures. Use single or range selection instead.

Select all similar

To select all elements of a specific type (e.g., all barlines, all text elements, all staccato markings):

Select an element;
Right click and chose Select…;
Several options are available:
- All Similar Elements: Selects all elements in the score similar to the chosen object.
- All Similar Elements in Same Staff: Selects all elements in the same staff similar to the chosen object.
- All Similar Elements in Range Selection: only applies if a range has been selected. Selects all elements in the range similar to the chosen object.
- More...: opens a dialog that lets you fine-tune more options. For example, if you have a notehead selected, the dialog will look something like this (as of version 2.1—previous versions had fewer options):
Select
- Same notehead: In this example, only noteheads of the same group will be selected;
- Same pitch: Only noteheads of the same pitch will be selected;
- Same type: All noteheads (of any group) will be selected;
- Same duration: Only noteheads of same duration will be selected;
- Same note name: Noteheads of that name in all octaves will be selected;
- Same staff: Only noteheads on the same staff will be selected.
Action
- Replace selection: The default option: starts the selection from scratch;
- Add to selection: Keeps everything you have already selected, and adds the current selection to it;
- Search in selection:
- Subtract from selection: Keep everything you have already selected, but takes away the current selection.