filtering - Shortcut to go from a list of selected checkboxes in a filter to only one selected item

The goal is to offer the user a filter control which by default includes all data

But the user might typically want to only show data from a certain continent or a certain subset. Especially typical is clicking one after eachother through the contintents one by one. Deselecting every item in the list is obviously painful, so what's a good UX solution?

Right not clicking the checkbox will select/deselect a single item, whilst clicking the label will select only that item (and deselect all other items in the list). Once you select only one (or a few items) you can go back to selecting everything with the checkbox next to the title of the filter).

Considering we explain this behavior actively to our users it's an acceptable solution, but I still have this nagging feeling there must be better solutions out there.

Answer

Have you seen google's Data Studio? They have a fairly nimble interaction: see enclosed gif. You can quickly uncheck all, check all, and use the 'only' filter to quickly select just one item from the list. You also have quick enumeration to the right of the category name to show how many are selected.