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Let’s take this link as an example:

The artist John Doe shows us his cat!

I want to copy the text "John Doe" only.

Is it possible somehow?

The problem is that I can't place my cursor in the text, as then the link gets activated.

As a workaround I copy the whole text, paste it somewhere and cut out the relevant part.

unor
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    As this question was closed as duplicate (although the duplicate seems to be about a solution for Google Chrome), I can’t post the solution that worked for me here. I [posted an answer](http://superuser.com/a/738255/151741) there. **tl;dr:** holding `Super`+`Alt` while selecting the text. – unor Feb 13 '16 at 14:31

2 Answers2

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To select link text in Firefox, hold Alt while dragging the mouse.

Note that this does not currently work in Chrome or Safari.

Bradd Szonye
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    Don't know if this is specific to the OS, but while holding *Alt* and clicking (dragging), I move the whole window. (I'm using Ubuntu.) – unor Apr 17 '13 at 09:27
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    That must be a global keyboard shortcut for moving windows in that window manager. The Alt-click works in Windows and Mac (with the Option key). – Bradd Szonye Apr 17 '13 at 09:29
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    I see, thanks. I asked about it at [Ask Ubuntu](http://askubuntu.com/q/282336/82665). – unor Apr 17 '13 at 09:38
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    If you're using KDE, I just ran across instructions for disabling Alt+Click here: http://superuser.com/questions/584730/how-can-i-disable-alt-mouse-default-behavior-in-kde/584752#584752 – Bradd Szonye Apr 19 '13 at 00:35
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    For **Ubuntu** users: Press **Win+Alt+drag**. Win+Alt is a generic shortcut for bypassing the Alt+Drag of the windows manager (useful for Wine progs too) – Mark Jeronimus Dec 01 '17 at 12:05
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If you click right above the link and drag it will select part of it. This probably works in a most browsers but I only tested it in Chrome on Windows.

lopsided98
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    I have seen users recommend this elsewhere, but this does not work for me on Chrome for Mac. Clicking anywhere above the link selects the previous line, clicking anywhere below selects the next. – Bradd Szonye Apr 17 '13 at 01:21
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    Woah, didn't know that. It works, but only sometimes. Too often it selects the line from the beginning to the place where I clicked. Fiddly job. – unor Apr 17 '13 at 09:28
  • What browser and OS are you using? It always works for me in Chrome on Windows even if I click almost a centimeter above the link. – lopsided98 Apr 17 '13 at 12:41