Vim Tricks: Visual Block Mode

I thought I’d write down one of my favorite vim tricks. This one is to change or comment a vertical block of text all at once, instead of one line at a time.

• Step One
  • Enter Visual Block mode with Ctrl+v, then highlight a single character wide slice you wish to add comment characters to.
• Step two
  • Press Shift+i to enter insert mode, then enter your comment character. Don’t worry, this will only effect one line at first.
• Step three
  • Press Esc to apply your change to all lines you previously had highlighted.

Photo by Florian Olivo on Unsplash