Select all in a text field with one mouse click
Mar 13, '03 09:01:00AM • Contributed by: Anonymous
I first noticed this in Safari, but it seems to be native to OS X. If you click on the top border of any text field - whether it's a form on the Web or in a System Preference pane - the text for that entire field will hilight automatically. You have to have good aim - there's only one active row of pixels: the first row where your cursor changes from an I-beam to the arrow. A simple trick, but one that may save you a click and drag.
[robg adds: I tested this with a few programs, and in general, it works ... but I can't figure out a rule for which apps support it and which apps do not. It works in Mail (except in the "To" field, for some reason), Safari, OmniWeb, TextEdit, Word and BBEdit Lite, but not in the Finder, iCab, Excel, Mozilla or IE. Can anyone provide more information on this behavior?]