How to quickly select the majority of the files in a folder

File Explorer (or Windows Explorer as it used to be called) has a handy feature that makes it easy to select most of the files in a folder.

Let’s say you have 40 files in a folder and you want to select 35 of them. You have a couple of ways to approach this:

• Use the Invert Selection feature
• Use Ctrl+A

In both cases, open File Manager and navigate to the folder where the files are.

To use Invert Selection:

1. Use the checkboxes next to the file names to select the five files you do not want
2. On the Home tab in the Select group click on the Invert Selection button
   

The 35 files you want will be selected.  If you do not see a checkbox next to a file name when you move your mouse over it, you see can how to turn them on here.

To use Ctrl+A:

1. Press Ctrl+A to select all the files in the folder
2. Press and hold the Ctrl key

Click on the files you do not want and they will be removed from the selection.