Move a selection or selection border

Last updated on Oct 27, 2025

Learn how to move a selection, adjust its border, hide or show selection edges, and invert a selection in Photoshop.

Move a selection

Select the Move tool from the toolbar.

Move the pointer inside the selection border, then drag the selection to a new position. If multiple areas are selected, they all move together.

Move a selection border

Using any selection tool, select New Selection in the Options bar.

Position the pointer inside the selection border (the pointer changes to indicate movement).

Drag the border to enclose a different area.

  • You can drag partly beyond the canvas. When brought back, the original border reappears intact.
  • You can also drag the border to another image window.
Note

You can apply geometric transformations to reshape the border.

Control the movement of a selection

  • Hold Shift while dragging to constrain movement to 45° increments.
  • Press an arrow key to move by 1 pixel.
  • Hold Shift and press an arrow key to move by 10 pixels.

Hide or show selection edges

  • Select View > Extras to toggle selection edges, grids, guides, and other extras.
  • Select View > Show > Selection Edges to toggle only the selection edges. Edges reappear with a new selection.

Select the unselected parts of an image

Select the background with the Magic Wand tool.

Choose Select > Inverse to select the object instead.