Page 214 - Windows 10 May 2019 Update The Missing Manual: The Book That Should Have Been in the Box

Tip

The Ctrl key trick is especially handy if you want to select almost all the icons in a window. Press
Ctrl+A to select everything in the folder, and then Ctrl-click any unwanted items to deselect them.

By Typing

You can also highlight one icon, plucking it out of a sea of pretenders, by

typing the first few letters of its name. Type nak, for example, to select an
icon called “Naked Chef Broadcast Schedule.”

Eliminating Double-Clicks

In some ways, a File Explorer window is just like a web browser. It has a
Back button, an address bar, and so on.

If you enjoy this PC-as-browser effect, you can actually take it one step

further. You can set up your PC so that one click, not two, opens an icon.
It’s a strange effect that some people adore, that some find especially useful
on touchscreens—and that others turn off as fast as their little fingers will

let them.

In any File Explorer window, on the View tab of the Ribbon, click Options.
The Folder Options control panel opens. Turn on “Single-click to open an

item (point to select).” Then indicate when you want your icon’s names
turned into underlined links by selecting “Underline icon titles consistent
with my browser” (all icons’ names appear as links) or “Underline icon

titles only when I point at them.” Click OK. The deed is done.

Now, if a single click opens an icon, you’re entitled to wonder how you’re
supposed to select an icon (which you’d normally do with a single click).

Take your pick:

Point to it for about a half-second without clicking. To make

multiple selections, press the Ctrl key as you point to additional
icons. (And to drag an icon, just ignore all this pointing stuff—
simply drag as usual.)