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

Question

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?

Not sure about sublimetext, but several editors lets you do this by doing a click on the beginning of the column and pressing alt+shift to mark your column. — NoChance, Apr 09 '12 at 21:45
@EmmadKareem: Thank you. I just tried it but unfortunately, it does not seem to work in Sublime. — Legend, Apr 09 '12 at 21:50
Take a look at this: http://www.sublimetext.com/docs/2/column_selection.html — NoChance, Apr 09 '12 at 21:59
@EmmadKareem: Unless I am missing something, that page only explains how to use Ctrl but what I want is to select all lines in a file. Adding a block using Ctrl will still require me to hold onto the mouse selection. — Legend, Apr 09 '12 at 22:16
@EmmadKareem: Oh.. Thank you for your time :) Hopefully someone can give me a hint. — Legend, Apr 09 '12 at 23:13

score 167 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 27 '15 at 15:42

167

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.

edited Apr 27 '15 at 15:42

Ry-

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answered Apr 10 '12 at 07:07

fraxel

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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. – Justin Noel Jun 27 '12 at 21:56
@Justin: Thank you. I guess this is for a Mac system. – Legend Jun 27 '12 at 22:31
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. – owensmartin Feb 01 '19 at 22:43

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 18 '16 at 04:24

4

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.

answered Mar 18 '16 at 04:24

user3806770

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score 4 · Answer 3 · edited Sep 28 '16 at 12:51

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.

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

3 Answers3

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