Celeb Glow
news | March 10, 2026

How to select a single element or layer in Photoshop CS6

I just moved to Photoshop CS6 at work, and I can't find how to select an element by clicking it. In CS5 I just Alt-clicked and it selected the element in the layers list.

Is this feature still available? If yes, how do I use it?

2 Answers

To select the layer that belongs to an element from the document window:

  • Windows: CtrlAlt and right click
  • OS X: Hold and right click

If you hold Shift, it will select multiple layers. This works from almost all tools.


If Auto-Select is disabled, you can also drag to select multiple layers. First, M to select the move tool, then:

  • Windows: Hold Ctrl and drag across the document
  • OS X: Hold and drag across the document

Finally, you can also always right-click inside the document to select a layer:

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1

With the Move tool selected, just click on the "Auto-Select" on top.

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