Quick answer
Without an add-on: Place the cursor at the start of the block, scroll to its end without clicking elsewhere in the text, then hold Shift and click after the last character you want to select.
With Page Break Tools: If manual page breaks delimit the block, place the cursor inside it and choose Extensions > Page Break Tools > Select Content Between Page Breaks. See Method 2 for details.
Method 1: using Google Docs without an add-on
You do not have to drag the mouse through every page. In Google Docs on a computer, you can extend a selection from an initial cursor position.
- Click immediately before the first character you want to select.
- Scroll to the end of the block using the mouse wheel, trackpad, or scrollbar. Do not click elsewhere in the document text while scrolling, because that moves the cursor.
- Hold Shift and click immediately after the last character you want. This extends the selection from the original cursor position to that point.
- Check both ends of the highlight. Copy with Ctrl + C on Windows or ChromeOS, or Command + C on Mac, then paste normally.
The CustomGuide text-selection tutorial describes Shift-click selection. If it does not extend the selection as expected in your browser or editing context, use the keyboard method below.
Extend the selection with the keyboard
From your starting cursor position, hold Shift + Right Arrow to extend by character, or Shift + Down Arrow to extend by line. Use the corresponding Left or Up arrow to adjust the range in the other direction.
If the block runs to the end of the document, use Ctrl + Shift + End on Windows or Command + Shift + Down Arrow on Mac. These select to the document's end, not to the next page break. Google's official Google Docs keyboard shortcuts list these controls and note that some shortcuts depend on your language or keyboard.
The limitation: you still need to find the boundaries
Native selection is useful even without Page Break Tools. However, you still need to locate the start and end of the content yourself, or position the cursor at one boundary and extend to the other.
- A visual page boundary is where Google Docs automatically moves content onto another page because of page size, margins, and layout. It can move when the document changes.
- A manually inserted page break is an explicit break in the document. In Pages format, you can insert one with Insert > Break > Page break. Google's page-break instructions explain the process.
Use Pages format to insert and see page breaks. Pageless format hides page boundaries; switching formats does not make automatic boundaries into manual breaks.
Method 2: using Page Break Tools
For a document that already uses manual page breaks to separate blocks, Page Break Tools lets you select relative to those breaks instead of locating both ends manually.
- Open the document and place a text cursor inside the block in the document body, in the tab you are working on. Click in the text to clear any existing selection first.
- Open Extensions > Page Break Tools.
- Choose the selection command you need, then review the highlighted content before copying.
Select Content Between Page Breaks
Selects the whole text block around the cursor, from after the previous manual page break to before the next one. The delimiting breaks are excluded. If there is no earlier or later break, the start or end of the active document tab's body is used for that boundary.
Select Content Up to Next Page Break
Selects forward from the cursor to the next manual page break, excluding that break. It does not include text before the cursor. If there is no next manual break, it shows a message rather than selecting to the document's end.
Select Content Back to Previous Page Break
Selects backward from the cursor to the previous manual page break, excluding that break. It does not include text after the cursor. If there is no previous manual break, it shows a message rather than selecting to the document's start.
These commands need selectable text: an empty or image-only block is not a supported text-selection target. Selection endpoints are text-based, so review images or other non-text objects at the edges. The commands work in the active tab's document body, not in headers or footers.
The add-on creates a selection. Google Docs still handles copying and pasting. Page Break Tools does not duplicate pages automatically, rearrange chapters, select blocks based only on headings, or change native Google Docs selection behavior.
Demonstration
This 13-second excerpt from the original add-on recording shows a Google Docs document with existing manual page breaks, the command, and the selected text. It does not show the insertion of the breaks.
Open the demonstration video directly.
Text alternative: what the video shows
- 0–4 seconds: A Google Docs document is open with a text cursor inside a block. Non-printing characters are displayed.
- 4–6 seconds: The Extensions > Page Break Tools menu opens, and Select Content Between Page Breaks is chosen.
- 6–9 seconds: Google Docs shows the Working status while the command runs.
- 9–13 seconds: Text is highlighted across visual pages. A page break marker appears below the selected block before the recording scrolls upward through the selection.
Practical use cases
- Copy a chapter: If chapters are separated by manual page breaks, place the cursor in a chapter, select its block, and copy normally. A heading alone does not delimit a chapter for the add-on.
- Reuse a template block: Select a repeated text block when manual page breaks mark its boundaries, then paste it into another document.
- Work with a long document: Select a multi-page block without scrolling to both ends, provided its boundaries are manual page breaks.
- Copy a structured section: In a report or teaching document with explicit page-break delimiters, select the whole block or just the portion from the cursor to one break.
If the document uses headings but no manual page breaks at the relevant boundaries, use native selection instead. You do not need to change the document's layout just to copy a section. See also how to copy a Google Docs section without dragging.
Install Page Break Tools
Page Break Tools is free of charge on the official Google Workspace Marketplace. Install it, open or reload your Google Docs document, and look under Extensions > Page Break Tools. No separate Page Break Tools account is required.
Review price, permissions and privacy before installing. For help, visit Support. Read the Privacy Policy and Terms.
FAQ
Can I select an entire page in Google Docs?
You can select the content you see on a page with native selection methods. Page Break Tools does not select an arbitrary visual page; it selects relative to manually inserted page breaks, and that block may span more than one page.
Can I select everything between two page breaks?
Yes, for a text block bounded by manual page breaks: place the cursor inside it and choose Select Content Between Page Breaks. The breaks themselves are excluded. Check non-text objects at the edges because selection endpoints are text-based.
Does this work with automatically generated page boundaries?
No. Automatic pagination is not a delimiter for Page Break Tools. A visible page ending does not necessarily contain an inserted page break.
Can I use it to copy individual chapters?
Yes, if manual page breaks mark the chapter boundaries. The add-on selects the block; you then copy and paste using Google Docs. It does not recognize chapter headings as selection boundaries.
Does Page Break Tools duplicate pages?
No. It provides selection commands only. It does not automatically copy, paste, duplicate, or rearrange pages or chapters.