Cmd+A (Select All) does not work in canvas side panels on macOS
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Assessment
- Difficulty
- 2/5
- Estimated time
- 1-3 hours
- Newbie friendliness
- 72/100
- Issue type
- Bug
- Clarity
- Clearly specified
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Domain
- desktop
Research direction
Start by reproducing the issue in the Copilot app on macOS with a focused canvas side panel, then inspect the native Edit menu handling described in the report. Done means Cmd+A selects the focused panel's contents and Cmd+A followed by Cmd+C copies them, while mouse selection and Cmd+C continue to work.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Description
Short summary
Cmd+A (Select All) does nothing when focus is in a canvas side panel on macOS.
Affected version or release
Copilot app, macOS (Darwin). Version not captured at the time of the report.
Installation context
Local desktop app, canvas side panel open next to a project session.
What happened?
While viewing content in a canvas side panel, I pressed Cmd+A to select the page contents so I could copy them. Nothing was selected.
Manually drag-selecting the text with the mouse and then pressing Cmd+C works fine, so copying is possible — but for anything longer than a screen it's tedious and error-prone.
This looks like the app's native macOS Edit menu has no Select All item bound to Cmd+A, so the shortcut is never routed into the webview hosting the canvas. Drag-select and Cmd+C are native webview behaviors that work without a menu binding, which is consistent with only Cmd+A being broken.
Steps to reproduce
- On macOS, open the Copilot app.
- Open any canvas in the side panel that renders a page of text/content.
- Click into the canvas panel to give it focus.
- Press Cmd+A.
- Observe that nothing is selected.
- Drag-select some text with the mouse and press Cmd+C — this works, confirming copy itself is functional.
Expected behavior
Cmd+A should select the contents of the focused canvas panel, matching standard macOS behavior and the rest of the app. Cmd+A followed by Cmd+C should copy the panel's contents.
Additional context
- Platform: macOS (Darwin)
- Only Cmd+A appears affected; mouse selection and Cmd+C behave normally.
- Likely fix is registering a Select All accelerator in the app's native Edit menu so the shortcut reaches the webview.
- Dominant language
- No language data
- Stars
- 2.1k
- Forks
- 157
- PR merge metrics
- No merged PRs in 30d
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
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