When you left-click-and-release on an atom using the left button, PyMOL should, by default, select the entire residue:

This will create an entry “(sele)” in the control panel which can be acted upon using the pop-up menus. If you then left-click on a neighboring residue, it too should be added to the selection:

Left-clicking on the first residue should once again deselect it:

And finally, left-clicking away from any atom should deactivate the selection.

If you click on where it says “Selecting: Residues”, you can cycle through the available selection modes below. These modes are also available from the “Mouse” menu under “Selection Mode”.

• Atoms
• C-alphas
• Molecules
• Objects
• Segments
• Chains
• Residues

When the selection mode is set to “Atoms”, you can define your selection by clicking on individual atoms:

Mouse Controls