How to Select Hyperlink Text in Google Chrome?

Question

I am running Google Chrome 5. How can I select hyper link text using the mouse with, for example, CTRL or ALT keys?

Solution 1

As of Chrome v52, it now works the same way as Firefox:

Pressing ALT while selecting text prevents hyperlinks being followed, and therefore allows all or partial text in links to be selected and copied.

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For older versions of Chrome:

Start the selection just above the text (not below). Just before the mouse cursor changes to a hand. This way you can drag to the right and don't need to mess with the left arrow (which doesn't seem to work anyway).

This unfortunately fails if there is selectable content immediately above the link text.

Solution 2

The answer is:

Put the mouse cursor below the hyper link just after the cursor changes to the arrow. Now press the left button and move the mouse until the required text is selected. If you put the cursor above the hyper-link it does not work in most cases.

Solution 3

Try this extension: Hyperlink Text Selector

Solution 4

There is a chrome extension now called: ToggleLink: Select Text From Link

Solution 5

You can use the Google Chrome Copy Link: it will adds a copy link text in the contextual menu when selecting some text and right-clicking on it. It is rated 4.1/5 with 54 reviews and 7500 users on the Google Chrome store (vs. 3.3/5 with 89 reviews and 4300 users for Copy Link Name, and 3.3/5 with 20 reviews and 4850 users for Copy Link Text).

Permission requirements:

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Comments

[mmonem]

Actually my concern is the text in the middle of a long hyperlink. I can't believe it is a missing feature in all browsers!

[harrymc]

@mmonem: No way - need to select it all, then cut up using a text editor.

[mmonem]

@harrymc, do ypu have any reference for what you say?

[Oliver Salzburg]

Tried that a while ago. Didn't work for me :(

[Iuliu Atudosiei]

This works for me, it's a little bit tricky to use but it works. Just right click on the link and select ToggleLink(GetText) from context menu.

[Robert]

In Firefox is pretty simple actually. Just right-click the link and select "Bookmark This Link". Then you can copy the text from the dialog and click on cancel.

[devios1]

Yeah the default is to actually drag an object version of the hyperlink. But honestly how often do people use that capability? I don't think I've ever dragged a hyperlink. If I want to add a bookmark I will navigate to the page and drag the page icon to my bar. I'd much rather be able to select text in a link than drag a hyperlink!

[Morphit]

In firefox you can just hold <alt> and drag select text. It's annoying Chrome doesn't share this feature.

[Alexander Taylor]

my intuition told me to do this too. but this isn't working for me on chrome 38 on a mac. they made me use a mac.

[Metafaniel]

I wish it was as easy as Chrome for Android, where you can select to copy the text or the hyperlink. Addin that to the righ click as a Chrome feature would be handy...

[jameshfisher]

This does not always work.

[Louis]

This does not allow selecting only a middle section of a link.

[WestCoastProjects]

This is consistently and repeatably not working for Chrome on OS/X. Safari works fine.

[WestCoastProjects]

How does this thing work?? I activated it within Chrome but depressing shift does not make selecting the text possible - at least in OS/X.

[Pat]

Worked well for me - I just have to tap Shift and it removes the hyperlink so the text underneath is fully selectable just like any other webpage text.

[theonlygusti]

This doesn't work. Try selecting google search results.

[Danny Staple]

Needs more upvotes - this answer works when the above doesn't.

[MageWind]

Press ctrl + alt if you're on Linux.

[fywe]

"Alt + Shift" works as well on KDE.

[Piyin]

@theonlygusti This works just fine on Google results. Just keep in mind the cursor must be right below the link (right when the cursor changes from pointer to normal cursor), and right before the place where you want to start the selection. Holding ALT is also an alternative so you don't have to find the right spot for the cursor and just select as you like

[santiago arizti]

anybody knows how to do this on mac? on mac opt+click downloads the file as of March2018

[DavidPostill]

Please quote the essential parts of the answer from the reference link(s), as the answer can become invalid if the linked page(s) change.

[DavidPostill]

Please read How do I recommend software for some tips as to how you should go about recommending software. You should provide at least a link, some additional information about the software itself, and how it can be used to solve the problem in the question.

[Zhiyong]

"cmd + alt" works for Firefox 61 on Linux with MATE desktop. The "cmd" is necessary or MATE will interpret your action as moving the window. "ctrl + alt" also makes it possible to select, but in that case releasing the mouse opens the link.

[mmonem]

Thanks but I can't stand with "Read and change all your data in the websites you visit" unless the author of the addon is Google. Does it really need this permission?

[Franck Dernoncourt]

@mmonem idk, I'm not familiar with Chrome permissions.

[Dogemore]

For osx, ctrl+left click brings up right-click menu. If you do this to URLs it will automatically select it. I find this much easier and less error-prone compared to right-clicking the link when using the trackpad.

[Louis]

@mmonem It needs to be able to read the text in order to copy it.

[mmonem]

I think Google adds confusion here by calling HTML content data. What then can we call cookies and local storage for websites?