How To Delete Text In All Sorts Of Ways On Your Mac - | Macworld

g English US Edition

• Edition
• English UK
• English US

• Mac
• iPhone
• iPad
• Apple Watch
• AirPods
• Vision Pro
• MoreExpand More
  • Accessories
  • Apple
  • Apple TV
  • Audio
  • Security
  • Software
• Best Picks
• Reviews
• Deals
• Opinion
• Rumors
• Newsletter
• Digital Magazine – Subscribe
• Digital Magazine – Info
• Smart Answers

Skip to content

1. Home
2. Software
3. How-To

Image: Apple

If you’re a long-time Mac user or a new one, it’s possible you’re only aware of the Delete key, which is technically a “backward delete”: it deletes characters to the left of the current cursor in English and other languages that read left-to-right. It has its own symbol: ⌫. On various vintages of keyboards, you might find the word Delete, a leftward-pointing arrow ←, or both the arrow and the label. (For Mac users, it’s nearly always Delete; Backspace is more of a…Windows word.)

On extended keyboards, you may also find a “forward delete” option. It may also be labeled Delete or Del, and it has the forward delete symbol on it: ⌦. Press this and characters to the right of the insertion point are deleted.

On more compact keyboards, such as that on a laptop, macOS lets you create a forward-delete action by holding down the Function key (fn) and then pressing the Delete key normally used for backward delete.

A few other nifty deletion helpers (some of these keyboard commands may not work in the software you are using):

• Add the Option key to forward or backward delete (including Fn-Option-⌫), and macOS deletes a word at a time, or when you’re not dealing precisely with words, anything up to the next white space in the direction you’re deleting.

• Control-H and Control-D also substitute for backward and forwards delete, owing a debt to macOS’s Unix underpinnings.

• Control-K, another Unix relative, deletes everything from the insertion point ot the end of the line. Some software interprets that as the end of the paragraph (until the next point in the document or email at which you pressed the Return key). Other software is more literal, and deletes only the characters on the same visible line.

Sadly, macOS omits Control-U, which in Terminal shells deletes everything from the insertion point to the start of the line, a useful complement to Control-K.

This Mac 911 article is in response to a question submitted by Macworld reader Mike.

Ask Mac 911

We’ve compiled a list of the questions we get asked most frequently along with answers and links to columns: read our super FAQ to see if your question is covered. If not, we’re always looking for new problems to solve! Email yours to [email protected] including screen captures as appropriate, and whether you want your full name used. Not every question will be answered, we don’t reply to email, and we cannot provide direct troubleshooting advice.

Author: Glenn Fleishman, Contributor, Macworld

Glenn Fleishman’s most recent books include Take Control of iOS and iPadOS Privacy and Security, Take Control of Calendar and Reminders, and Take Control of Securing Your Mac. In his spare time, he writes about printing and type history. He’s a senior contributor to Macworld, where he writes Mac 911.

Recent stories by Glenn Fleishman:

• PowerPhotos 3 review: Time-saving Apple Photos tool for power users on the Mac
• What to do when an iCloud calendar invitation won’t work
• How to remove a stored password from a Mac storage device