Deleting selected areas

To delete a selected area in your image, choose Edit > Clear, or press Backspace (Windows) or Delete (Mac OS). To cut a selection to the Clipboard, choose Edit > Cut.

If you delete a selection on a background layer or a layer that uses the Lock Transparency option (located in the Layers palette), Photoshop Elements replaces the selected area with the current background color, which appears in the toolbox.