1.3 — Visual Mode — Selecting Text#

Visual mode lets you select text and then operate on the selection. It bridges the gap between Vim’s command-based approach and the familiar “select then act” paradigm.

What is Visual Mode?#

Visual mode allows you to visually select a region of text, then apply an operator to that selection. It’s like highlighting text with your mouse, but using keyboard commands.

When you’re in Visual mode:

• -- VISUAL --, -- VISUAL LINE --, or -- VISUAL BLOCK -- appears at the bottom
• Selected text is highlighted
• Movement commands extend the selection

Three Types of Visual Mode#

Vim offers three visual selection modes:

Mode	Command	Selects	Indicator
Character-wise	v	Characters	-- VISUAL --
Line-wise	V	Entire lines	-- VISUAL LINE --
Block-wise	Ctrl-v	Rectangular block	-- VISUAL BLOCK --

Character-wise Visual Mode (v)#

Selects individual characters. Use for selecting parts of lines.

This is [some text] to select
        ^^^^^^^^^^^
        Selected with v

Line-wise Visual Mode (V)#

Selects entire lines. Use for operating on multiple lines.

[First line of text     ]
[Second line of text    ]
[Third line of text     ]
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 Selected with V

Block-wise Visual Mode (Ctrl-v)#

Selects a rectangular block. Use for column editing.

Line one [text] here
Line two [text] here
Line thr [text] here
         ^^^^^^
         Selected with Ctrl-v

Using Visual Mode#

Basic Workflow#

1. Position cursor at selection start
2. Enter Visual mode (v, V, or Ctrl-v)
3. Move cursor to extend selection
4. Apply an operator

Movement in Visual Mode#

All Normal mode movements work in Visual mode:

Command	Selection extends to…
h/j/k/l	Adjacent character/line
w/b	Next/previous word
e	End of word
$	End of line
0	Start of line
gg	Start of file
G	End of file
}	Next paragraph
{	Previous paragraph

Operators in Visual Mode#

After selecting, apply an operator:

Operator	Action
d or x	Delete selection
c	Change selection (delete + insert)
y	Yank (copy) selection
>	Indent selection
<	Unindent selection
~	Toggle case
u	Make lowercase
U	Make uppercase
J	Join lines
:	Enter command for selection

Visual Mode Techniques#

Reselecting the Last Selection#

Press gv to reselect the last visual selection. Useful when you need to operate on the same region again.

Switching Selection Modes#

While in Visual mode, you can switch between modes:

Current Mode	Press	New Mode
Character	V	Line
Character	Ctrl-v	Block
Line	v	Character
Line	Ctrl-v	Block
Block	v	Character
Block	V	Line

Adjusting Selection Boundaries#

Press o to jump to the other end of the selection. This lets you adjust both boundaries.

[Selected text here]
^                  ^
Start              End (cursor)

Press 'o':

[Selected text here]
^                  ^
Cursor (start)     End

Selecting with Text Objects#

In Visual mode, you can use text objects to expand selection:

Command	Selects
aw	A word (includes surrounding space)
iw	Inner word
a"	A quoted string (includes quotes)
i"	Inner quoted string
a( or ab	A parenthesized block
i( or ib	Inner parenthesized block
a{ or aB	A braced block
i{ or iB	Inner braced block
at	A tag block (HTML/XML)
it	Inner tag block

Block Visual Mode Power#

Block mode (Ctrl-v) enables column-oriented editing:

Insert at Start of Multiple Lines#

1. Ctrl-v to enter Block mode
2. j to extend down multiple lines
3. I (capital I) to insert at start
4. Type your text
5. Esc — text appears on all lines

Example: Add // to comment multiple lines:

line one          →    // line one
line two          →    // line two
line three        →    // line three

Append at End of Multiple Lines#

1. Ctrl-v to enter Block mode
2. j to extend down multiple lines
3. $ to extend to end of each line
4. A to append
5. Type your text
6. Esc — text appears on all lines

Delete a Column#

1. Ctrl-v to enter Block mode
2. Move to select a column
3. d to delete

Replace a Column#

1. Ctrl-v to enter Block mode
2. Select the column
3. c to change
4. Type replacement
5. Esc — replacement appears on all lines

Practice Exercises#

Exercise 1: Character Selection#

1. Open a file with text
2. Press v to enter Visual mode
3. Use w to select words, $ to select to end of line
4. Press d to delete the selection

Exercise 2: Line Selection#

1. Press V to enter Line Visual mode
2. Press j several times to select multiple lines
3. Press > to indent them
4. Press gv to reselect
5. Press < to unindent

Exercise 3: Block Selection#

1. Create several lines with similar structure
2. Press Ctrl-v to enter Block mode
3. Move to create a rectangular selection
4. Press d to delete the block
5. Undo with u

Exercise 4: Multi-line Insert#

1. Create several lines
2. Ctrl-v, then j several times
3. Press I, type # , press Esc
4. All lines now start with #

Exercise 5: Text Objects in Visual#

1. Position cursor inside a quoted string
2. Press v then i" to select inside quotes
3. Press y to yank
4. Move elsewhere and p to paste

Visual Mode vs. Operators + Motions#

Visual mode and Normal mode operators can often achieve the same result:

Visual Mode	Normal Mode	Result
viw then d	diw	Delete inner word
V then d	dd	Delete line
v$ then y	y$	Yank to end of line

When to use Visual mode:

• You want to see what you’re selecting before acting
• You’re unsure of the exact motion
• You need to make adjustments to the selection
• Block operations

When to use operators + motions:

• You know exactly what you want
• Speed is important
• You want the operation to be repeatable with .

Summary#

Mode	Command	Use Case
Character	v	Select parts of lines
Line	V	Select whole lines
Block	Ctrl-v	Column editing

Technique	Command
Reselect last	gv
Switch ends	o
Exit	Esc

Visual mode is your “preview before commit” tool. Use it when you want to see exactly what will be affected before taking action.