Have you ever felt the tedium of tapping on each individual email in your inbox to select them? Or maybe you’ve scrolled through a long list of notes, painstakingly selecting one by one? Well, fret no more, fellow iPhone user! There’s a hidden gem amongst Apple‘s gesture library that can save you tons of time and taps: the two-finger drag selection.

Your iPhone is brimming with touch and gesture capabilities, some so intuitive they become second nature (think pinch-to-zoom). But others, like the two-finger drag, fly under the radar, waiting to be discovered. This isn’t just a neat trick; it’s a powerful tool that can significantly boost your efficiency.

Imagine you’re in your Mail app, staring down a sea of emails. Selecting multiple emails for deletion, organization, or any other action usually involves a tap for each one. But with the two-finger drag, you can conquer that list in a flash.

Here’s how to select multiple items faster on your iPhone

1. Open any app that allows you to select multiple items. This includes Mail, Contacts, Messages, Voice Memos, Notes, and many other Apple apps that display lists or grids.
2. Place two fingers on the screen simultaneously and tap and hold.
3. This activates the selection mode. Now, here comes the key part: with both fingers still on the screen, drag them up or down the list. As you drag, you’ll see the items getting highlighted, indicating they’re selected.
4. Keep dragging until you’ve selected all the desired items.
5. Once you’re happy with your selection, you can perform actions like deleting, moving, or organizing those emails (or any other items you selected).

The beauty of this gesture is its versatility. Let’s say you’ve overzealously selected a few emails you don’t actually want to delete. No worries! Simply drag your two fingers back in the opposite direction, and those emails will be deselected.

This two-finger trick isn’t just limited to Apple’s native apps. Many third-party apps have also incorporated this intuitive selection method into their design. So, the next time you’re dealing with multiple items in any app, take a moment to see if the two-finger drag works its magic.