How to Select Photos on MacBook: Complete Guide to Selecting Multiple Photos

Method 1: Select Multiple Photos in a Row (Straight From the Apple Docs)

If the photos you want to select are just running one after the other, then the Shift key method is your best bet.

Steps

• 1.Open either Finder or the Photos app
• 2.Find the folder or album that contains your images
• 3.Click on the first picture you want to select
• 4.Now hold down the Shift key - it's a lot easier than saying it
• 5.Click on the last picture in the bunch

macOS will magically highlight every picture in between.

This method is particularly useful when selecting:

• photos all from the same day
• images from a single photo shoot
• loads of pictures in a row

Method 2: Select Photos That Are All Over the Place

When the photos you want are scattered all over the place, you'll need to use the Command key method.

Steps

• 1.Open up your photo folder
• 2.Press and hold the Command key - you can keep holding it until you're done
• 3.Click on each photo you want to pick out

Each one will stay highlighted as long as you keep the Command key held down.

This method works a treat when:

• You need to pick out specific pictures
• You want to skip over photos that aren't any good
• You just want to go through the folder one by one

Method 3: Select All Photos at Once

And if you want to select every single photo in a folder, then there's a super simple keyboard shortcut to use.

Steps

• 1.Open up the folder with all your photos
• 2.Press Command + A on your keyboard

And instantly - you're done. All the photos will be selected.

This method is a lifesaver when:

• You want to edit loads of photos at once
• You need to move all your photos to another drive
• You want to export or delete a whole bunch of photos at once

Method 4: Select Photos Using Drag Selection

Another super quick method is dragging a selection box across multiple photos.

Steps to Get Started

• 1.Open up a folder on your MacBook that contains your photos.
• 2.Click in an empty space inside that folder window.
• 3.Hold that mouse button or trackpad down and start dragging the cursor across the images.
• 4.As you drag, all the photos inside that box will be selected automatically.

This approach is especially useful when:

• Your photos are laid out in grid view
• You need to select dozens of images at once

Method 5: How to Select and Delete Photos on Your MacBook

Once you have multiple photos selected, deleting them is dead simple.

Steps to delete selected photos

• 1.Select photos using any method - drag selection, Shift-click, Command-click, it's all good.
• 2.Just press that Delete key - boom!
• 3.You'll get a prompt to confirm deletion - just click OK.
• 4.You can also:

• Right-click on those selected photos
• Choose Move to Trash from the menu
• That way, you can quickly toss unwanted or duplicate photos.

Best Practices: Real Tips from Actual Mac Users

Some of you Mac fans out there have noticed that Shift-select doesn't always work in certain Finder views.

For example, one tip from a community forum read: "Try using List view for Shift-selection".

Another pro tip is that sometimes your keyboard shortcuts just stop working because other apps have overridden the modifier keys or some other quirk with macOS input settings.

Some community suggestions include:

• switching Finder to List view to get Shift-select working again
• checking to see if some keyboard shortcut app is causing the issue
• If all else fails, try restarting Finder - it works like a charm.

These real-world tips often fix common photo selection problems.

Bonus Tip: Use HitPaw FotorPea to Process Photos on Your Mac

After you've got your photos selected, you might want to give them a little TLC to make them shareable or storage-friendly.

That's where HitPaw FotorPea for Mac comes in - an awesome AI-powered photo processing tool that's just perfect for Mac users.

What is FotorPea?

FotorPea lets you use AI to enhance images and make them look their absolute best. It's great for sharpening blurry photos, bumping up the resolution, and cleaning up unwanted bits and bobs.

It's super useful when working with a bunch of photos selected from a Mac folder.

FotorPea's Key Features

• AI Photo Enhancer - Automatically improves clarity and sharpness
• Image Upscaling - Increases resolution without losing any quality
• Noise Reduction - Gets rid of grain or blur from low-quality images
• Background Removal - Deletes backgrounds smoothly for pro-level edits
• Batch Processing - Enhances multiple photos at once, saving you heaps of time

Here's How to Use FotorPea to Enhance Photos

Step 1 - Get and open HitPaw FotorPea on your Mac

Step 2 - Import the photos you've already selected

Step 3 - Choose the AI enhancement model you want to use, such as:

• Clarity enhancement
• Face enhancement
• Resolution upscale

Step 4 - Click Preview to see what the enhanced image looks like

Step 5 - Export the enhanced photo to your Mac

Conclusion

Mastery of how to select photos on a MacBook is a game-changer for getting your workflow on track when it comes to organizing images. macOS has got you covered with a bunch of super easy methods, including Shift-click for selecting ranges, Command-click for scattered images, drag selection for quick grouping, and Command + A for selecting all photos - just like Apple recommends.

Once you've got your photos selected, tools like FotorPea can take them to the next level, automatically improving clarity, removing noise, and bumping up the resolution to make you some top-notch images right on your Mac.