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This is super annoying. If I highlight one word in the long filename, the entire filename gets highlighted (usually 1 millisecond before I tap delete or type something else). I just want Windows to highlight what I'm dragging across and stop second-guessing me. Any tweak to bring back old behavior where it just highlights what I select with my mouse?

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How exactly do you highlight one word? Are you going into rename mode first (ie F2) which highlights the whole filename (excluding the extension) and then clicking and highlight part of the word? If so, then I have any such issues here, which might suggest it is caused by a program such as a shell extension or mouse utility. – sgmoore Jul 23 '11 at 10:41
@sgmoore in windows7, if you go into rename mode (by, e.g., click once, pause, click again) it highlights the filename, without the extension. If I then click and drag across the one word, sometimes it just selects what I want. But other times it highlights everything, and a millesecond before I type... the entire filename is highlighted and my typing replaces it. – CreeDorofl Jul 26 '11 at 20:35
I have seen this behavior, but only when a file has been added to that folder and windows/explorer refreshes the view. (Just tried about a dozen times and it worked fine whenever the folder contents remained the same, but goes wrong every time the folder contents change) – sgmoore Jul 27 '11 at 8:48
@sgmoore - thanks much, I think that's exactly what's happened. I'm trying to rename a file I just moved recently. Windows refreshes the view while I'm in the middle of renaming. Kind of a nuisance. – CreeDorofl Aug 1 '11 at 15:10
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3 Answers

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On Windows 7, once you make an edit to the filename, the auto-selection feature is disabled. But if you're not quicker than Windows's auto selection feature, you'll end up replacing the selection with your input. What I do is:

  1. Press F2 and have windows highlight the name part of the file.
  2. Press Ctrl-x, Ctrl-v to cut and paste back the select.
  3. Now that I've made my edit, I can freely use my mouse or keyboard to select and edit the filename.

Want to edit the entire filename including the extension? Ctrl-a, Ctrl-x, Ctrl-v

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up vote 1 down vote

I just ran across this issue myself on an external drive and realized refreshing is the problem as mentioned here. To stop it from happening make any edit to the filename quickly before the refresh, such as inserting a space then backspacing. Or use the cut and paste suggestion, although that will overwrite anything you were saving in the clipboard. Then you can select and edit the filename as usual.

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Gonna mark this as the answer, cheers for coming back to an old thread and adding this. The answer below is basically correct too, but just quickly throwing in a space makes a lot more sense than cutting and pasting (at least in my case where the old filename is not that relevant). – CreeDorofl May 7 at 15:27
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If you use the mouse, you only highlight what you drag across. This sounds like a third party program. . .

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howdy - I'm not really sure how to explain it but I'm pretty sure it's default win7 behavior. Been bothering me forever. I just tried now to recreate it and of course I can't. Sometimes I get just what I drag across, other times the entire word highlights a split second before typing the replacement word. – CreeDorofl Jul 26 '11 at 20:41
Yeah, you need a video. I've never heard of anything even remotely similar to this problem. . – surfasb Jul 26 '11 at 20:45
think sgmoore figured out what was happening, I was trying to rename a file shortly after moving it (or something else) in the same folder. Windows was refreshing the directory view in the middle of the rename process. If I didn't recently move anything, files behaved as usual. – CreeDorofl Aug 1 '11 at 15:13
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