How to automatically select all text on focus in WPF TextBox?

Question

We have it so the first click selects all, and another click goes to cursor (our application is designed for use on tablets with pens).

You might find it useful.

public class ClickSelectTextBox : TextBox
{
    public ClickSelectTextBox()
    {
        AddHandler(PreviewMouseLeftButtonDownEvent, 
          new MouseButtonEventHandler(SelectivelyIgnoreMouseButton), true);
        AddHandler(GotKeyboardFocusEvent, 
          new RoutedEventHandler(SelectAllText), true);
        AddHandler(MouseDoubleClickEvent, 
          new RoutedEventHandler(SelectAllText), true);
    }

    private static void SelectivelyIgnoreMouseButton(object sender, 
                                                     MouseButtonEventArgs e)
    {
        // Find the TextBox
        DependencyObject parent = e.OriginalSource as UIElement;
        while (parent != null && !(parent is TextBox))
            parent = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(parent);

        if (parent != null)
        {
            var textBox = (TextBox)parent;
            if (!textBox.IsKeyboardFocusWithin)
            {
                // If the text box is not yet focussed, give it the focus and
                // stop further processing of this click event.
                textBox.Focus();
                e.Handled = true;
            }
        }
    }

    private static void SelectAllText(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        var textBox = e.OriginalSource as TextBox;
        if (textBox != null)
            textBox.SelectAll();
    }
}

Donnelle's answer works the best, but having to derive a new class to use it is a pain.

Instead of doing that I register handlers the handlers in App.xaml.cs for all TextBoxes in the application. This allows me to use a Donnelle's answer with standard TextBox control.

Add the following methods to your App.xaml.cs:

public partial class App : Application
{
    protected override void OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e) 
    {
        // Select the text in a TextBox when it receives focus.
        EventManager.RegisterClassHandler(typeof(TextBox), TextBox.PreviewMouseLeftButtonDownEvent,
            new MouseButtonEventHandler(SelectivelyIgnoreMouseButton));
        EventManager.RegisterClassHandler(typeof(TextBox), TextBox.GotKeyboardFocusEvent, 
            new RoutedEventHandler(SelectAllText));
        EventManager.RegisterClassHandler(typeof(TextBox), TextBox.MouseDoubleClickEvent,
            new RoutedEventHandler(SelectAllText));
        base.OnStartup(e); 
    }

    void SelectivelyIgnoreMouseButton(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)
    {
        // Find the TextBox
        DependencyObject parent = e.OriginalSource as UIElement;
        while (parent != null && !(parent is TextBox))
            parent = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(parent);

        if (parent != null)
        {
            var textBox = (TextBox)parent;
            if (!textBox.IsKeyboardFocusWithin)
            {
                // If the text box is not yet focused, give it the focus and
                // stop further processing of this click event.
                textBox.Focus();
                e.Handled = true;
            }
        }
    }

    void SelectAllText(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        var textBox = e.OriginalSource as TextBox;
        if (textBox != null)
            textBox.SelectAll();
    }
}

I have chosen part of Donnelle's answer (skipped the double-click) for I think this a more natural. However, like Grokys I dislike the need to create a derived class. But I also don't like Grokys' OnStartup method. And I need this on a "generally but not always" basis.

I have Implemented this as an attached DependencyProperty so I can set local:SelectTextOnFocus.Active = "True" in xaml. I find this way the most pleasing.

using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Input;
using System.Windows.Media;

public class SelectTextOnFocus : DependencyObject
{
    public static readonly DependencyProperty ActiveProperty = DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
        "Active",
        typeof(bool),
        typeof(SelectTextOnFocus),
        new PropertyMetadata(false, ActivePropertyChanged));

    private static void ActivePropertyChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        if (d is TextBox)
        {
            TextBox textBox = d as TextBox;
            if ((e.NewValue as bool?).GetValueOrDefault(false))
            {
                textBox.GotKeyboardFocus += OnKeyboardFocusSelectText;
                textBox.PreviewMouseLeftButtonDown += OnMouseLeftButtonDown;
            }
            else
            {
                textBox.GotKeyboardFocus -= OnKeyboardFocusSelectText;
                textBox.PreviewMouseLeftButtonDown -= OnMouseLeftButtonDown;
            }
        }
    }

    private static void OnMouseLeftButtonDown(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)
    {
        DependencyObject dependencyObject = GetParentFromVisualTree(e.OriginalSource);

        if (dependencyObject == null)
        {
            return;
        }

        var textBox = (TextBox)dependencyObject;
        if (!textBox.IsKeyboardFocusWithin)
        {
            textBox.Focus();
            e.Handled = true;
        }
    }

    private static DependencyObject GetParentFromVisualTree(object source)
    {
        DependencyObject parent = source as UIElement;
        while (parent != null && !(parent is TextBox))
        {
            parent = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(parent);
        }

        return parent;
    }

    private static void OnKeyboardFocusSelectText(object sender, KeyboardFocusChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        TextBox textBox = e.OriginalSource as TextBox;
        if (textBox != null)
        {
            textBox.SelectAll();
        }
    }

    [AttachedPropertyBrowsableForChildrenAttribute(IncludeDescendants = false)]
    [AttachedPropertyBrowsableForType(typeof(TextBox))]
    public static bool GetActive(DependencyObject @object)
    {
        return (bool) @object.GetValue(ActiveProperty);
    }

    public static void SetActive(DependencyObject @object, bool value)
    {
        @object.SetValue(ActiveProperty, value);
    }
}

For my "general but not always" feature I set this Attache Property to True in a (global) TextBox Style. This way "selecting the Text" is always "on", but I can disable it on a per-textbox-basis.

Don't know why it loses the selection in the GotFocus event.

But one solution is to do the selection on the GotKeyboardFocus and the GotMouseCapture events. That way it will always work.

-- Edit --

Adding an example here to show people how to work around some the mentioned drawbacks:

private void TextBox_GotKeyboardFocus(object sender, KeyboardFocusChangedEventArgs e)
{
    // Fixes issue when clicking cut/copy/paste in context menu
    if (textBox.SelectionLength == 0) 
        textBox.SelectAll();
}

private void TextBox_LostMouseCapture(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
    // If user highlights some text, don't override it
    if (textBox.SelectionLength == 0) 
        textBox.SelectAll();

    // further clicks will not select all
    textBox.LostMouseCapture -= TextBox_LostMouseCapture; 
}

private void TextBox_LostKeyboardFocus(object sender, KeyboardFocusChangedEventArgs e)
{
    // once we've left the TextBox, return the select all behavior
    textBox.LostMouseCapture += TextBox_LostMouseCapture;
}

Here are the Blend behaviors implementing the answer solution for your convenience:

One for attaching to a single TextBox:

public class SelectAllTextOnFocusBehavior : Behavior<TextBox>
{
    protected override void OnAttached()
    {
        base.OnAttached();
        AssociatedObject.GotKeyboardFocus += AssociatedObjectGotKeyboardFocus;
        AssociatedObject.GotMouseCapture += AssociatedObjectGotMouseCapture;
        AssociatedObject.PreviewMouseLeftButtonDown += AssociatedObjectPreviewMouseLeftButtonDown;
    }

    protected override void OnDetaching()
    {
        base.OnDetaching();
        AssociatedObject.GotKeyboardFocus -= AssociatedObjectGotKeyboardFocus;
        AssociatedObject.GotMouseCapture -= AssociatedObjectGotMouseCapture;
        AssociatedObject.PreviewMouseLeftButtonDown -= AssociatedObjectPreviewMouseLeftButtonDown;
    }

    private void AssociatedObjectGotKeyboardFocus(object sender,
        System.Windows.Input.KeyboardFocusChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        AssociatedObject.SelectAll();
    }

    private void AssociatedObjectGotMouseCapture(object sender,
        System.Windows.Input.MouseEventArgs e)
    {
        AssociatedObject.SelectAll();   
    }

    private void AssociatedObjectPreviewMouseLeftButtonDown(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)
    {
        if(!AssociatedObject.IsKeyboardFocusWithin)
        {
            AssociatedObject.Focus();
            e.Handled = true;
        }
    }
}

And one for attaching to the root of a container containing multiple TextBox'es:

public class SelectAllTextOnFocusMultiBehavior : Behavior<UIElement>
{
    protected override void OnAttached()
    {
        base.OnAttached();
        AssociatedObject.GotKeyboardFocus += HandleKeyboardFocus;
        AssociatedObject.GotMouseCapture += HandleMouseCapture;
    }

    protected override void OnDetaching()
    {
        base.OnDetaching();
        AssociatedObject.GotKeyboardFocus -= HandleKeyboardFocus;
        AssociatedObject.GotMouseCapture -= HandleMouseCapture;
    }

    private static void HandleKeyboardFocus(object sender,
        System.Windows.Input.KeyboardFocusChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        var txt = e.NewFocus as TextBox;
        if (txt != null)
            txt.SelectAll();
    }

    private static void HandleMouseCapture(object sender,
        System.Windows.Input.MouseEventArgs e)
    {
        var txt = e.OriginalSource as TextBox;
        if (txt != null)
            txt.SelectAll();
    }
}