How to Edit Columns of Text in Vim

What Is Visual Block Mode?

#

Normal visual mode (v) selects characters in a stream. Visual line mode (V) selects whole lines. Visual block mode (Ctrl-V) selects a rectangle — a column of text spanning multiple lines.

This lets you operate on vertical slices of a file: insert a prefix on 20 lines at once, delete a column of data, replace aligned text, or reindent a block — all without regex or macros.

Entering Visual Block Mode

#

Press Ctrl-V (sometimes shown as <C-v>) in normal mode. You’ll see -- VISUAL BLOCK -- in the status bar.

Then move to expand the selection:

The selection is always rectangular — it doesn’t follow line length.

Insert Text on Multiple Lines

#

This is the most common use case — adding a prefix or indent to a block of lines.

Steps:

1. Place cursor at the starting position
2. Ctrl-V to enter visual block mode
3. j (or movement) to extend the selection down
4. I (capital I) to insert before the block
5. Type your text
6. Esc — the text appears on all selected lines

Example — add # to comment out lines:

Before:

server_name example.com
listen 80
root /var/www/html

With cursor on line 1 column 1: Ctrl-V, 2j, I, # , Esc

After:

# server_name example.com
# listen 80
# root /var/www/html

Append After a Block

#

Use A (capital A) instead of I to append text after the selection:

1. Ctrl-V, select the block
2. $ to extend to end of line (important for ragged lines)
3. A to append
4. Type your text
5. Esc

Example — add a trailing comment:

Before:

port = 8080
host = localhost
debug = true

Select all lines with Ctrl-V, 2j, $, A, # default, Esc

After:

port = 8080  # default
host = localhost  # default
debug = true  # default

Delete a Column

#

Select a rectangle and press d (or x) to delete it.

Example — remove line numbers from pasted output:

Before:

  1  fn main() {
  2      println!("hello");
  3  }

Place cursor on line 1 column 1, Ctrl-V, 2j, 4l, d

After:

fn main() {
    println!("hello");
}

Replace a Block

#

Select a rectangle and press r followed by a character to replace every character in the selection.

Example — redact a column:

Before:

user    password    role
alice   s3cr3t!     admin
bob     hunter2     user
carol   p@ssw0rd    user

Select the password column: position cursor on s of s3cr3t!, Ctrl-V, 2j, 7l, r, *

After:

user    password    role
alice   ********    admin
bob     ********    user
carol   ********    user

Change a Block

#

Select a rectangle and press c to delete the selection and enter insert mode. What you type replaces the block on every line.

Example — change a repeated value:

Before:

ENV=production
ENV=production
ENV=production

Select production on all lines: Ctrl-V, 2j, e, c, staging, Esc

After:

ENV=staging
ENV=staging
ENV=staging

Shift and Indent a Block

#

You don’t always need visual block mode for indentation — visual line mode (V) with > and < works well. But visual block is useful when you want to indent only part of a line or a precise column.

Indent lines with visual line mode:

V, select lines, > to indent, < to outdent

Insert spaces at a specific column with block mode:

1. Ctrl-V, select the column position across lines
2. I, type spaces, Esc

Working with Aligned Data

#

Visual block mode shines when editing tabular or column-aligned text.

Reorder Columns

#

Combine block select with delete and paste:

1. Select a column with Ctrl-V
2. d to cut it
3. Move to the destination
4. p to paste the block

Align Equals Signs

#

If you have misaligned assignments:

name = "alice"
port = 8080
max_connections = 100
debug = true

Select the column after the longest key, use I to add spaces where needed. Or use block delete to remove extra spaces first, then re-add them uniformly.

Number a List

#

You can use g Ctrl-A to create incrementing numbers after inserting a column of identical starting values:

1. Write a 0 (or 1) at the start of each line using block insert
2. Select all the numbers with Ctrl-V
3. g Ctrl-A to increment them sequentially

Before (after inserting 0. on each line):

0. First item
0. Second item
0. Third item
0. Fourth item

Select the column of 0s, then g Ctrl-A:

1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item
4. Fourth item

Practical Scenarios

#

Comment/Uncomment a Block of Code

#

Comment out:

Ctrl-V → select lines → I → // → Esc

Uncomment (remove // ):

Ctrl-V → select lines → 2l (to cover "// ") → d

Add Quotes Around a Column of Values

#

Before:

alice
bob
carol

Add opening quote: Ctrl-V, 2j, I, ", Esc Add closing quote: Ctrl-V, 2j, $, A, ", Esc

After:

"alice"
"bob"
"carol"

Fix Indentation on Pasted Code

#

When code pastes with wrong indentation, select the misaligned block with Ctrl-V and either delete extra spaces or insert missing ones.

Convert Spaces to Tabs (or Vice Versa) in a Region

#

Select the leading whitespace column and replace it:

1. Ctrl-V, extend down across lines
2. Select the whitespace width
3. c, type the replacement whitespace, Esc

Tips

#

• $ makes ragged lines uniform. When lines have different lengths, $ extends the selection to the end of every line, so A appends at the true end of each line rather than at a fixed column.

• O toggles the cursor corner. While in visual block mode, pressing O (capital O) moves the cursor to the opposite corner of the selection. This lets you adjust the selection from either end.

• gv reselects. If you lose your selection, gv brings back the last visual selection — works for block mode too.

• Dot repeat works. After a block insert/append, . repeats it. Useful if you need to apply the same edit to another block of lines.

• : commands apply to block selections. If you press : while in visual block mode, you get :'<,'> which applies commands to the selected line range (not the block rectangle specifically). For true column operations, use the block operators (I, A, d, c, r).

Quick Reference

#