Use Ctrl-A to Select All Text in MS Access Text Box

In this Microsoft Access tutorial, I will show you how to use Ctrl+A to select all text in a long text box, rather than all records. We'll explore programming techniques using VBA, such as utilizing the key down event, sel start, and sel length, to customize Access to your needs.

Evelyn from Lombard, Illinois (a Platinum Member) asks: My database has long text fields that I use for entering and editing notes from my field techs. In most applications, pressing Ctrl+A selects all the text in the current field or document, but in Access, it selects all the records instead. This is frustrating because I often want to quickly select all the text in a field while typing or editing so I can cut/copy and paste it. How can I change this behavior so Ctrl+A works the way it does in other applications?

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Prerequisites

• Intro to VBA
• KeyDown Event
• SetFocus
• SelStart & SelLength

Links

• Select Text On Click

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Keywords

TechHelp Access, Ctrl-A behavior Microsoft Access, VBA select all text, KeyDown event Access VBA, SelLength SelStart VBA, custom shortcuts Access VBA, SetFocus method Access, Access text field programming, trapping key events Access, handling long text fields Access, copying text clipboard Access