5 PowerTips for Deleting Text
Mac Tip #388, 10 June 2009
Delete words or lines of text with a single keystroke, while not even touching the mouse.
Those of us who do a lot of writing also do a lot of deleting. The Delete (Backspace) key normally deletes one character at a time, working from right to left, but you can make it work more effectively for you.
Different keyboards for different folks
First, though, a word about keyboards. I use a MacBook Pro. It has only one Delete key, up in the top right corner, near F12, +, and |.
Those who use desktop Macs tend to use an ‘extended’ keyboard that also includes a Forward Delete key, generally over near the number keypad. The Forward Delete key normally deletes one character at a time, from left to right.
In this Tip I’m writing only about the Delete (Backspace) key and not the Forward Delete key. If you can contribute experiences with the Forward Delete key please add them to the comments on this Tip.
Also, I’m using Mac OS X 10.5.7. While these Tips should still work for other versions of the OS and the software that comes with it, there may be differences.
One character at a time: back or forward
You may think the Delete key can delete only one character at a time, working from right to left, but it can do a lot more, if you add one or more modifier keys.
Suppose after I type the word MacTips the cursor is located just to the right of the letter s. If I press the Delete key once the letter s will be removed, leaving MacTip. That’s the default action for the Delete key — to remove the character to the left of the insertion point.
The effects of various deletion techniques.
Now let’s imagine that the cursor is moved to be immediately to the left of the word MacTip. If I hold down the fn key and press the Delete key once the letter M is removed — in other words, the letter to the right of the insertion point. This gives us a Forward Delete, just by holding down the fn key and pressing Delete.
One word at a time: back or forward
Try putting the cursor to the right of a word and holding down Option (⌥) while you press Delete once. This removes the word to the left of the insertion point.
If the insertion point is already inside a word then Option Delete removes the part of the word to the left of the insertion point.
Now reverse it and try Option fn Delete. Adding in the fn key reverses direction and deletes a whole word to the right of the insertion point. Or, if the cursor’s inside a word then it deletes the part of the word to the right of the insertion point.
The screenshot shows the effects of these various deletes. Click the thumbnail for a larger version.
One line at a time: back, but not forward
Hold down Command (⌘) while you press Delete and all the text between the insertion point and the beginning of the line is deleted.
Unfortunately, I can’t find a key combination that will delete forward to remove a whole line.
A summary of deletions
Add these modifier keys to make Delete work harder.
| Delete + Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Delete | Removes one character to the left of the insertion point |
| Delete fn | Removes one character to the right of the insertion point |
| Delete Option | Removes one word to the left of the insertion point |
| Delete Option fn | Removes one word to the right of the insertion point |
| Delete Command | Removes one line to the left of the insertion point |
Try it out, and let us know in the Comments what you find. Are there places where it doesn’t work?
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* 12 comments… read them below and tell us what you think.
The Fn-Option-Delete and the Cmd-Delete don’t work in the version of word I’m running – but both work fine in Pages.
In this comment box the Cmd-Delete doesn’t work and it also doesn’t work in Google Docs.
However gaining the whole word delete is a huge bonus for me.
Many thanks.
Thanks for that Jo.
I had thought of saying that with MS Word all bets are off… :-)
Cheers,
Miraz
In some (many? all?) Mac applications, control-k deletes from the cursor forward to the end of the line.
(Actually, instead of deleting, it actually “cuts” the end of the line, placing the text on an alternate clipboard, separate from the one used by normal command-c/v commands, which can be pasted back in using control-y.)
This keyboard short-cut is inherited from Unix-style terminals via NextStep, which included both Unix-style and Mac-style editing commands.
-Simon
Thank you Simon. That’s excellent information.
I note though, in testing this, that it seems not to delete to the end of the *line*, as you say, but to the end of the *paragraph*. It may depend on how one defines ‘line’ exactly. :-)
It was interesting to see that Control, combined with various keys, also did things such as deleting forward, making a new paragraph, and so on.
Great tip, but the last one did not work for me: (Cmd-Del = delete entire line to the left of cursor. I am used to using Opt-Shft-arrow keys and the Opt-Cmd-arrow keys, though.)
MacBook Pro 17″ – 2.5-yr-old machine; OS 10.5.8; tried this in Pages 2008
Delete + Key Action
Delete Removes one character to the left of the insertion point
Delete fn Removes one character to the right of the insertion point
Delete Option Removes one word to the left of the insertion point
Delete Option fn Removes one word to the right of the insertion point
Delete Command Removes one line to the left of the insertion point
Try it out, and let us know in the Comments what you find. Are there places where it doesn’t work?
Hmmm, thanks for the feedback Dan.
I just tested Command Delete in Pages ’09 on my 3.5 year old MacBook Pro 15″. It deleted a whole row of text, as I expected.
Where is the fn key?
Norman: on a MacBook Pro or MacBook the fn key should be at bottom left of the keyboard, beside the Ctrl and Option keys.
If you don’t have a Mac laptop then you’re likely to have a full size keyboard which should have a Forward Delete key on it.
Over at TUAW I just also discovered that Control D will delete one character forward too:
Mac 101: Forward delete on a Mac laptop
the command + delete function didn’t work for me. the rest work great! thanks!
new macbook pro. 1 wk old. :)
Thanks Zac. I just tested in a bunch of apps. Command Delete worked in most of them, but not all. Which app were you using? For me just now it didn’t work in OmniOutlliner Pro, although it worked fine in BBEdit, EverNote, YoruFukurou, Mars Edit.
great tips, the delete backward is new to me, I saw people do it but didn’t know how, now I know.
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