Is there any way to invert file selections on Mac OS X like we do it on Windows?
The key you're looking for is Cmd.
Select the files – any view should work – then move with the mouse cursor to the empty space next to the file list. Hold Cmd and drag to invert the selection:
If you don't want to use the mouse, an alternative way would be to use AppleScript instead. Open up Automator.app, create a new Service. From the left pane, drag Run AppleScript to the right, and paste the following:*
on run {input, parameters}
tell application "Finder"
set inverted to {}
set fitems to items of window 1 as alias list
set selectedItems to the selection as alias list
repeat with i in fitems
if i is not in selectedItems then
set end of inverted to i
end if
end repeat
select inverted
end tell
return input
end run
Set this service to receive No Input from Finder.app. Like this:
Save this service as Invert Selection. Then, head to System Preferences » Keyboard » Keyboard Shortcuts, and add your shortcut to the service, for example ShiftCmdI:
Now, select any files in Finder and press the shortcut to invert the selection.
* I found this on the Apple Mailing Lists, no idea who wrote it though.