How can I do a column select across the entire file?

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30,297

Solution 1

This should do it:

Ctrl+A - select all.
Ctrl+Shift+L - split selection into lines.
Then move all cursors with left/right, select with Shift+left/right. Move all cursors to start of line with Home.

Solution 2

OS X

You can click the following and drag to create a selection of one or more columns of characters:

Left mouse button + option
Middle mouse button

To add to an existing selection, hold command while doing the above.

To subtract from an existing selection, hold command + shift while doing the above

Windows

You can click the following and drag to create a selection of one or more columns of characters:

Right Mouse Button + shift
Middle Mouse Button

To add to an existing selection, hold Ctrl while doing the above.

To subtract from an existing selection, hold Alt while doing the above.

Solution 3

In Mac OS X, replace Ctrl with CMD key. So it'll be,

CMD+A - select all. CMD+Shift+L - split selection into lines. Then move all cursors with left/right, select with Shift+left/right. Move all cursors to start of line with Home.

30,297

Author by

Legend

Just a simple guy :)

Updated on July 08, 2022

Comments

Legend almost 2 years

Is there a way I can use the middle click or maybe (Ctrl+Alt+Up) to a particular column across all lines in a long file? Currently, I am middle-clicking and then dragging this to the end of the screen and waiting for it to select all lines.

Specifically, for long files, how would I select one particular column across the entire file?
Legend about 12 years

Brilliant! Thank you so much. Been searching for this for eternity!
Justin Noel almost 12 years

This should do it: Cmd+A - select all. Cmd+Shift+L - split selection into lines. Then move all cursors with left/right, select with Shift+left/right. Move all cursurs to start of line with Home.
Legend almost 12 years

@Justin: Thank you. I guess this is for a Mac system.
Phonon over 10 years

Fantastic! Saved me a lot of time!
myNameCoad over 7 years

you save my time!
owensmartin over 5 years

On Mac, if you don't have a "Home" button available you can hit Ctrl-A to move all the cursors to the beginning of the line.