# Selecting up and down stream nodes without backward/forward traversal

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/selecting-up-and-down-stream-nodes-without-backward-forward-traversal/101911>\
**Category:** General\
**Tags:** feature-request\
**Created:** [16 October 2026 08:44 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/selecting-up-and-down-stream-nodes-without-backward-forward-traversal/101911 "2026-10-16T08:44:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gregorius](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/gregorius/32/73816_2.png) [@gregorius](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gregorius)\
**Post date:** [16 October 2026 08:44 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/selecting-up-and-down-stream-nodes-without-backward-forward-traversal/101911/1 "2026-10-16T08:44:24Z")

</div>

Hi There,

This is going to be about the shift-click feature:

![Screen Recording 2026-10-16 at 10.25.56](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/c/5/c57685f672629ab3359d22cff6295e5bd4e9ad4f.gif)

- Shift & click in the middle of a node: all _reachable_ nodes are highlighted.
- Shift & click on the right side of a node: all _reachable_ downstream nodes are highlighted.
- Shift & click on the left side of a node: all _reachable_ upstream nodes are highlighted.

The issue I have is the "reachable", this implies a backward or forward traversal of the node graph. In this case, the left click also highlights the upper branch, but what I want is only _connected_ nodes, so that that left click should result in:

 ![Screenshot 2026-10-16 at 10.28.04](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/c/7/c700c9fe7b6225a5d4d6f2cad0bc4b38fa5178e4.png)

Similarly if I connect nodes "function 22" with "function 29" and then do a right click, I get this:

 ![Screenshot 2026-10-16 at 10.28.20](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/b/b/bb4c398f971a3af5a43a0691dc8259479361cb44.png)

but what I want is this:

 ![Screenshot 2026-10-16 at 10.28.38](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/a/8/a8390b27539d314104a26e3006aeb25766b3a3a1.png)

Only the downstream nodes are highlighted.

I'm not wanting to change the existing behaviour, that behaviour is very useful for certain use cases but what I would like is a modifier key that only highlights _connected_ nodes, i.e, those that are reachable directly and without recursive traversal.

Modifiers already exist. The cut tool (option key + click + drag) to highlight multiple links that will be cut:

 ![Screenshot 2026-10-16 at 10.30.17](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/e/1/e188c7cc8cb90d1dc3cb5f09eb5818a36049cb5e.png)

Can be modified (something that I learnt after implementing the feature myself!) by adding a shift to insert a junction:

 ![Screenshot 2026-10-16 at 10.30.47](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/1/7/17bdca58ff3abb57667c3ec8159144a05112f004.png)

Which is incredibly useful btw!

So what I suggest is adding a modifier to the shift and click, i.e., the option key, and have the behaviour be modified so that only _connected_ nodes are highlighted.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\
**Post date:** [16 October 2026 10:03 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/selecting-up-and-down-stream-nodes-without-backward-forward-traversal/101911/2 "2026-10-16T10:03:50Z")

</div>

> [@gregorius](#):
>
> - Shift & click in the middle of a node: all _reachable_ nodes are highlighted.
> - Shift & click on the right side of a node: all _reachable_ downstream nodes are highlighted.
> - Shift & click on the left side of a node: all _reachable_ upstream nodes are highlighted.

Where does that feature come from? I am not seeing it myself.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gregorius](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/gregorius/32/73816_2.png) [@gregorius](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gregorius)\
**Post date:** [16 October 2026 10:10 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/selecting-up-and-down-stream-nodes-without-backward-forward-traversal/101911/3 "2026-10-16T10:10:24Z")

</div>

> [@TotallyInformation](#):
>
> Where does that feature come from?

Builtin since at least v4.

What happens if you shift+click (i.e. hold the shift key and click) on a node?

If that highlights everything, then you know it's working. Then move to the left or right side of the node and repeat.

This is on a mac but even windows has a shift key 😉

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\
**Post date:** [16 October 2026 10:16 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/selecting-up-and-down-stream-nodes-without-backward-forward-traversal/101911/4 "2026-10-16T10:16:12Z")

</div>

I think I need to scrap my dev instance, it is giving me different results to live. It is working on my live instance.

I've recently developed another issue on my dev instance as well. Restarting Node-RED completely results in a delay of at least 2 minutes before things become properly responsive. So something is blocking the loop somewhere.

Indeed, switching projects on my dev instance also works, just not on my "normal" dev project. Strange. So it is the project rather than the instance that has issues.