Selection tool

The Selection tool is Finale's universal editing tool. It can be used to select, move, delete, copy, paste, or otherwise edit any region of measures and virtually any individual item in the score.

Click on a marking to select it, such as a lyric, slur or articulation. Once selected, you can move, nudge, edit or delete it. For more advanced editing, double-click to switch to the appropriate tool. The Selection tool works on Measures (Measure tool/Edit menu/Utilities menu), Notes & Rests (Simple Entry), Smart Shapes, Expressions, Articulations, Repeats, Lyrics, Chords & Fretboards, Text Blocks, Graphics, Brackets, Measure Numbers, Tuplets, Key and Time Signatures, Clefs, Ossias, Staff and Group Names.

This tool is also used to select regions of your score (from a single note to the entire score) in order to edit all the selected music at once. For example, you can change any selected measure spacing, measure widths, layer assignments, stem directions, beaming patterns, and so on. You can also rebeam, rebar, transpose, or apply articulations to every note in any selected region.

You can use this tool to copy music from one place to another—even from one Finale document to another. You can also use this tool for erasing selected musical elements from a region—such as articulations, chord symbols, lyrics, expressions, MIDI controller data, and so on—without disturbing the other existing elements of the music in that region. See Erasing and Copying music.

Work faster with:

Tip: You can undo any Selection tool operation by choosing Edit > Undo (COMMAND+Z) immediately afterward.

See also:

Main Tool Palette

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