AD16 pcb layout, understanding selectio with "shift click to select"

[starman18]

After years of use, I still haven't figured out how to efficiently select an object in AD layout.  I use a lot of polygons and rooms - so at times they're stacked up and so selecting a via can be tricky!


Reading the docs doesn't make it more clear -

https://www.altium.com/documentation/15.1/display/ADES/PCB_Dlg-DefinePrimitivesSelectableWithShift((Shift+Click+To+Select))_AD

but the words in Preferences -> PCB Editor -> General -> shift click to select  suggest that you can avoid selecting items by check those primitives in 'shift click to select'.  So I select everything exect the type of items I'm working with (today its vias).    After checking everything but vias, I return to my layout and right click, drag a via and the selection dialog pops up asking if I want to drag the track or via!

What am I missing?
TIA!