Selecting a text region on Android 2.3+

I often need to select a region of text on my smartphone, to delete, or to copy to the clipboard. What to do when you have a small screen and few input devices, unlike a desktop? I figured it out.


Touch and hold the screen until the popup menu appears. Choose Select Word or Select All. Which one you use depends on how much you want to include or exclude. You will get two "paddles" surrounding the selection. Drag them to surround the region you want, then hit backspace to delete, or tap the screen to copy to clipboard. Depending on the app, there might be other options accessible from the menu to check the text in dictionary, etc.


This is actually explained in detail in  this Android guide. I wish I had found that guide when I was first looking.


Hope this helps.