Target or select pages or spreads

Last updated on Jun 2, 2026

Learn how to use the Pages panel in Adobe InDesign to focus on and manage pages or spreads in your document.

In Adobe InDesign, targeting and selecting pages or spreads serve different purposes. Targeting makes a page or spread active for actions such as pasting objects or placing guides. Selecting pages or spreads allows you to duplicate, delete, or move them. In the Pages panel, the target page or spread appears with a vertical ruler, while selected pages or spreads show a highlighted border around their thumbnails.

Open any InDesign document.

To target and select the page or spread simultaneously, double-click the page thumbnail or the page numbers displayed beneath it from the Pages panel (Window > Pages).

To select a page without targeting it, select the page thumbnail in the Pages panel.

To select the entire spread, select the page numbers beneath the spread thumbnail in the Pages panel.

Note
  • Some spread-specific options in the Pages panel menu only become available when an entire spread is selected, such as Allow Selected Spread to Shuffle or Duplicate Spread.
  • The vertical ruler appears dimmed for all pages except the targeted page or spread, showing which content is active.