Interface actions and labels

“Click the checkbox” leaves its final state to chance. “Select the checkbox” tells the reader what the step requires. Small verbs carry a surprising amount of product behavior.

Choose the verb for the intended action or state. Name a gesture when teaching that gesture; otherwise use wording that works across the supported input methods.

Choose the interaction verb

Term	Use
Choose	Invoke a menu command or choose an option; also suitable across input methods when the context is clear.
Select	Establish a selection of text, glyphs or list items, or put a checkbox in its selected state.
Deselect	Remove an item from a selection or leave a checkbox unselected.
Click	Activate a control with a pointer click; use click in to place the insertion point in a field.
Double-click	Perform two pointer clicks in quick succession.
Right-click	Use the secondary click when that method matters, without assuming a physical button assignment.
Tap	Perform a brief touch action.
Touch and hold	Maintain contact with a touch target.
Press	Use a keyboard key or physical button.
Press and hold	Keep a key or physical button down for an action.
Drag	Move an item while maintaining the relevant contact or selection.
Scroll	Move through content in a scrollable area.
Pan	Move the view over a larger canvas.
Enter	Supply a value through any supported method, including typing or pasting.
Type	Produce characters with the keyboard when typing itself matters.
Turn on or turn off	Change a setting to its enabled or disabled state.

Avoid click on, hit the key and depress. Use clear for removing field contents or for a verified command name. For a checkbox, state the required selection rather than an ambiguous toggle.

A shortcut can use one key, keys pressed together or a sequence. Use plus signs for a combination and words or commas for a sequence. Preserve the names on the target keyboard, including Return and Enter when they differ. See mechanics.

Keyboard context

State the focus and keyboard layout when they affect the action. Test the control: arrow keys, access keys and shortcuts do not behave identically in every application. Name a numeric-keypad key when it differs from the main keyboard.

A shortcut can invoke a command without opening a menu. An access key identifies a control within an interface context. Preserve actual assignments and check localized labels and layouts for conflicts. A familiar shortcut from another application is a hypothesis to test.

Preserve names in instructions

Copy the displayed label, including case and meaningful punctuation. Keep a quoted ellipsis when it belongs to the label. Put the sentence's own punctuation outside it. An exact error message keeps its wording too.

Add a control type when it helps identify the target: Name field, Export button. The type is not part of the label unless the interface says so. For an icon-only control, prefer its accessible name; appearance and position can help locate it but must not be the sole description.

Use spaced > signs for a verified menu hierarchy. When an action opens a dialog, describe the next dialog action separately. The visual order of controls does not establish a menu path.

Write new labels

Give an action its effect: Export font, Choose folder, Replace file. Give a category or destination a noun: History, Account. Use sentence case and parallel grammar for peer choices.

Distinguish Cancel, Done, Next and Back by what each does. The final action in a purchase or deletion flow must name the commitment. A generic Continue can conceal the point at which browsing becomes buying.

Describe the enabled state of a setting. Automatic updates is easier to interpret than a double negative. A tooltip may explain an unfamiliar effect, but essential instructions need a persistent home.

Fictional example: a control removes a drawing from the current preview but leaves the source file intact.

Misleading: Delete drawing

Specific: Remove from preview

The longer label carries the scope. Cutting those last two words changes what the reader believes will happen.

Test a proposed label by stating its effect without surrounding copy. If the label alone suggests a broader action, put the missing scope into the label or make it persistent beside the control. A tooltip that appears only on hover cannot carry the whole distinction.

Preserve differences between operations

Save stores work; export produces output for another format or workflow. Say whether export also saves the editable source only when the application establishes that behavior. Close affects a document or window; quit ends the application, according to its actual commands.

Delete, remove and erase need a clear object and scope. State what disappears, what remains and whether a supported reversal exists. Undo cannot promise universal recovery.

Download and upload identify direction. Sync suggests ongoing consistency. Do not turn a one-time copy into synchronization or a download into a completed installation.

Cut is a clipboard operation. Check when the source is removed and what pasting does. For copy and move, state whether the original remains when it affects the task.

Use the glossary for product-specific objects such as layers, masks, panels and panes. Keep one exact term through the procedure. Sentence variety belongs around that term, where it will not make the reader look for a second control.