How to select layers in Photoshop

You can select one or more layers to work on them. For some activities, such as painting or making color and tonal adjustments, you can work on only one layer at a time. A single selected layer is called the active layer. The name of the active layer appears in the title bar of the document window.

For other activities, such as moving, aligning, transforming, or applying styles from the Styles panel, you can select and work on multiple layers at a time. You can select layers in the Layers panel or with the Move tool 

How to select layers in Photoshop
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You can also link layers. Unlike multiple layers selected at the same time, linked layers stay linked when you change the selection in the Layers panel. See Link and unlink layers.

If you don’t see the desired results when using a tool or applying a command, you may not have the correct layer selected. Check the Layers panel to make sure that you’re working on the correct layer.

Select layers in the Layers panel

Select layers in the document window

You can also select a layer or layers directly from the document window.

Select a layer in a group

You can open a group and then select an individual layer within that group.

Grouping layers helps organize your projects and keeps your Layers panel uncluttered. By linking layers, you establish a relationship between them, even if they aren't next to each other in your layer order.

You can link two or more layers or groups. Unlike multiple layers selected at the same time, linked layers retain their relationship until you unlink them. You can move or apply transformations to linked layers.

Show layer edges and handles

Showing the boundary or edges of the content in a layer can help you move and align the content. You can also display the transform handles for selected layers and groups so that you can resize or rotate them.

Display the edges of content in a selected layer

Display transform handles in a selected layer

How to select layers in Photoshop

Work faster in Photoshop with Auto-Select! Learn how to auto-select layers, including multiple layers at once and even layer groups! You'll also learn the best ways to use this great feature.

Photoshop's Move Tool includes an Auto-Select feature that lets you automatically select layers just by clicking on their contents in the document. You can select an individual layer or multiple layers at once. And you can even select an entire layer group just by clicking on the contents of any layer in the group!

Auto-selecting layers is faster than switching between them in the Layers panel. But it also makes it easy to accidentally select the wrong layer. So in this tutorial, I'll walk you through how Photoshop's Auto-Select feature works, and I'll show you what I consider to be the best way to take advantage of it.

Auto-Select is available in all recent versions of Photoshop, but it's turned on by default in the latest versions of Photoshop. Along with learning how it works, I'll show you how to turn Auto-Select off, and how to turn it back on only when you need it. Let's get started!

How to auto-select a layer in Photoshop

To show how Auto-Select works, I've created this simple layout with a background image and the word "LAYERS" in front of it:

How to select layers in Photoshop

My Photoshop document.

In the Layers panel, we see how my document is set up. The image is on the Background layer, and notice that I've split the word "LAYERS" into its individual letters, with each letter on its own Type layer.

Auto-Select works with most kinds of layers in Photoshop, including pixel layers, Shape layers, Type layers, and even smart objects. I'm using Type layers here just to keep things simple:

How to select layers in Photoshop

The Layers panel showing the layers in the document.

Select the Move Tool

To auto-select layers, you first need to have the Move Tool selected. You can select the Move Tool from the top of the toolbar, or by pressing the letter "V" on your keyboard:

How to select layers in Photoshop

Selecting the Move Tool.

How to turn Auto-Select on

With the Move Tool active, Auto-Select is found in the Options Bar. In the most recent versions of Photoshop CC, Auto-Select is turned on by default. In earlier versions, you can turn Auto-Select on by clicking inside the checkbox:

How to select layers in Photoshop

The Auto-Select option in the Options Bar.

How to switch Auto-Select between Layer and Group

Notice that by default, Auto-Select is set to automatically select layers. But you can also auto-select entire layer groups. Just click in the box beside the words "Auto-Select" and choose either Layer or Group from the list.

We'll look at layer groups in a moment. For now, I'll leave Auto-Select set to Layer:

How to select layers in Photoshop

Switching Auto-Select between Layer and Group.

Click on the contents of a layer to select it

To automatically select a layer, just click on the layer's contents in the document. I'll click on the letter "L", and notice in the Layers panel that Photoshop automatically highlights that layer:

How to select layers in Photoshop

Clicking on the content selects the layer.

To auto-select a different layer, again click on its contents. If I click on the letter "A", Photoshop deselects the previous layer in the Layers panel and selects the "A" layer instead:

How to select layers in Photoshop

Clicking on a different item in the document to auto-select its layer.

How to deselect all layers

The one layer you can't auto-select is the Background layer. Instead, clicking on the background contents while Auto-Select is turned on will deselect any previously-selected layers:

How to select layers in Photoshop

Desleecting all layers by clicking the background contents.

How to auto-select multiple layers

So far, we've seen how easy it is to auto-select a single layer in your Photoshop document. But you can auto-select multiple layers as well. And there's a couple of ways to do it.

Method 1: Drag a selection around the layers with the Move Tool

One way to auto-select two or more layers is to click and drag with the Move Tool to draw a selection outline around the contents of the layers you want to select.

Here I'm dragging a selection around the first three letters. And in the Layers panel, we see that Photoshop has auto-selected all three layers. There's no need to draw your selection around the entire contents of a layer. As long as any part of the content falls within the selection outline, the layer will be selected:

How to select layers in Photoshop

Drawing a selection to auto-select layers.

With all three layers selected, I can click with the Move Tool on the contents of any of the selected layers and drag all three layers together to reposition them:

How to select layers in Photoshop

Moving all three layers at once after auto-selecting them.

Method 2: Shift-clicking on the layer contents

Another way to auto-select multiple layers is to press and hold your Shift key as you click on the contents of the layers you want to select.

Here I'm holding Shift while clicking the letters L, Y and R. And in the Layers panel, all three layers are now highlighted:

How to select layers in Photoshop

Shift-clicking to auto-select multiple layers at once.

Again, I can click on the contents of any of the selected layers to move all of them at the same time:

How to select layers in Photoshop

Dragging the selected layers upward.

How to auto-select a layer group

Along with automatically selecting layers, Photoshop also lets us auto-select layer groups. Clicking on the contents of any layer in the group will auto-select the entire group.

In the Layers panel, we see that I've gone ahead and placed all six of my Type layers into a layer group ("Group 1"). And I've twirled the group open so we can see the layers inside it:

How to select layers in Photoshop

All six Type layers are now inside a layer group.

With Auto-Select still set to Layer, clicking on the contents of any layer in the group selects just that one layer:

How to select layers in Photoshop

Auto-selecting a single layer in the layer group.

To auto-select layer groups, go to the Options Bar and change Auto-Select from Layer to Group:

How to select layers in Photoshop

Changing the Auto-Select option to Group.

And now, if I click on the same contents again, this time I select the layer group itself:

How to select layers in Photoshop

Auto-selecting the layer group.

The problem with auto-selecting layers

So we've seen that Photoshop's Auto-Select feature is a fast and easy way to select a layer. But it also makes it easy to accidentally select the wrong layer.

To show you what I mean, I've ungrouped my layers, and I've set Auto-Select back to Layer:

How to select layers in Photoshop

Setting Auto-Select from Group back to Layer.

In the Layers panel, I'll select the "L" layer by clicking on it, the way you would normally select a layer without using Auto-Select:

How to select layers in Photoshop

Selecting a layer in the Layers panel.

And then with the "L" layer active, if I click directly on the letter L in the document, and I drag with the Move Tool, I move the content I expected:

How to select layers in Photoshop

Moving the correct layer in the document.

But here's the problem. If I click on a different part of the document by mistake, like the letter A, and I drag with the Move Tool, I end up moving the wrong content. And that's because Photoshop auto-selected the new layer I clicked on, even though I didn't mean to do that:

How to select layers in Photoshop

Auto-selecting and moving the wrong content by mistake.

Or, if I accidentally click and drag on the background contents, then instead of moving the letter L, or anything at all, I start drawing a selection outline, auto-selecting any layers that fall within the selection:

How to select layers in Photoshop

Clicking and dragging on the background draws a selection outline instead of moving the layer.

The best way to use Auto-Select in Photoshop

So how we can use Photoshop's Auto-Select feature but avoid selecting the wrong layers by mistake? The best way is to turn Auto-Select on only when you need it. And you can do that using a simple keyboard trick.

How to turn off Auto-Select in Photoshop

With the Move Tool active, uncheck Auto-Select in the Options Bar to turn it off. It will remain off until you turn it back on again, so you only need to do this once:

How to select layers in Photoshop

Turning Auto-Select off.

How to temporarily turn Auto-Select back on

Then, any time you want to temporarily turn Auto-Select back on, press and hold the Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac) key on your keyboard. Click on the contents of the layer you want to auto-select, and then release the Ctrl / Command key to turn Auto-Select back off.

To auto-select multiple layers, press and hold Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac) to temporarily turn Auto-Select on, and then add the Shift key. Click in the document to select the layers you need, and then release the keys to turn Auto-Select back off. Note that you'll need to have the Move Tool active for these shortcuts to work.

You'll know that Auto-Select is on because the checkmark will reappear in the Options Bar. When you release the Ctrl / Command key, the checkmark will again disappear:

How to select layers in Photoshop

The checkmark appears and disappears as you toggle Auto-Select on and off.

And there we have it! That's how to use the Auto-Select feature to quickly select single layers, multiple layers and layer groups in Photoshop!

Check out our Photoshop Basics section for more tutorials! And don't forget, all of our tutorials are now available to download as PDFs!

How do I select specific layers?

If you have a layer that contains many objects, you can put a selection around every object on that layer by holding the Command key (PC: Control key) and clicking on the Layer's name in the Layers palette.

What is the fastest way to select multiple layers in Photoshop?

To select more than one object at a time, simply press Ctrl (Mac: Command) on the corresponding layer in the Layers Panel.

How do you select multiple layers in Photoshop app?

Select multiple layers Or you may want to group layers to organize them. Tap one layer in the Layers panel to select it. In the Task bar, tap the Three-Dot icon and choose Begin multi-select mode. Tap the checkbox on other layers to add them to the layer selection.

How do you select multiple layers?

Hold down the left Shift key and left-click and drag a selection rectangle in the Content Layer section over the layers you want to select. This allows you to select a range of layers.