I know there's the option in the element selection to only search for certain levels etc. but I only get it to work by selecting a bunch of elements and then switching everything off in the various tabs that I don't want to be selected.
It would way more handy if there was the option to do a search by attributes within a certain area, i.e. a fence, for things I want to get selected instead of having to deselect everything i don't want.