Nvim Session 07: Visual Mode Mastery

Select first, then act. Visual mode lets you see what you’re affecting before you apply operators.

Pre-Session State

Know operators work with motions
Understand text objects
Master all three visual modes
Use visual block for column editing

Visual Mode Overview

Key Mode Selection Type

Key	Mode	Selection Type
`v`	Character	Arbitrary text selection
`V`	Line	Whole lines only
`Ctrl-v`	Block	Rectangular column selection

v

Character

Arbitrary text selection

V

Line

Whole lines only

Ctrl-v

Block

Rectangular column selection

Lesson 1: Character Visual Mode

Exercise 1.1: Basic selection

v        " Enter character visual
" Move with any motion...
hjkl     " Character by character
w b e    " Word motions
f\{char}  " Find character
/pattern " Search

Exercise 1.2: Visual + motion

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
    |

v/over<CR>    " Select from cursor to "over"
ve            " Select to end of word
v$            " Select to end of line
vip           " Select inner paragraph
v%            " Select to matching bracket

Exercise 1.3: Acting on selection

After selecting:

d        " Delete selection
c        " Change selection (delete + insert)
y        " Yank selection
>        " Indent selection
<        " Outdent selection
~        " Toggle case
U        " Uppercase
u        " Lowercase
:        " Enter command mode for range

Lesson 2: Line Visual Mode

Exercise 2.1: Whole line selection

V        " Select current line
j j j    " Extend down 3 more lines
k        " Shrink back up

Exercise 2.2: Line visual + motion

Vgg      " Select from current to file start
VG       " Select from current to file end
V}       " Select to next paragraph
V/pattern" Select to search match

Exercise 2.3: Common line operations

Vjjd     " Delete 3 lines
Vjjy     " Yank 3 lines
Vjj>     " Indent 3 lines
Vjj:s/old/new/g   " Substitute in 3 lines

Lesson 3: Block Visual Mode

Concept: Select rectangular columns - powerful for tables and aligned text.

Exercise 3.1: Column selection

hostname1  10.0.0.1
hostname2  10.0.0.2
hostname3  10.0.0.3
hostname4  10.0.0.4

Position on first 1 of 10.0.0.1:

Ctrl-v   " Enter block visual
jjj      " Down 4 lines
e        " To end of IP

Selection is now a rectangle covering all IPs.

Exercise 3.2: Block delete

Ctrl-v   " Block visual
jjj      " Select rows
ll       " Extend columns
d        " Delete the block

Exercise 3.3: Block insert

server1
server2
server3
server4

Add prefix to all lines:

Ctrl-v   " Block visual
jjj      " Select all 4 lines
I        " Insert mode (capital I!)
prefix_  " Type the text
<Esc>    " Apply to all lines

Result:

prefix_server1
prefix_server2
prefix_server3
prefix_server4

Exercise 3.4: Block append

file1
file2
file3

Add suffix:

Ctrl-v   " Block visual
jj       " Select lines
$        " Extend to end (variable length!)
A        " Append mode
.txt     " Type suffix
<Esc>    " Apply to all

Result:

file1.txt
file2.txt
file3.txt

Exercise 3.5: Block change

var1 = 100
var2 = 200
var3 = 300

Change all values:

f=w      " Position on first value
Ctrl-v   " Block visual
jj       " Select all values
e        " To end of number
c        " Change
0<Esc>   " Replace with 0

Result:

var1 = 0
var2 = 0
var3 = 0

Lesson 4: Visual Mode Operations

Exercise 4.1: Reselect with gv

viw      " Select word
<Esc>    " Exit visual
gv       " Reselect same area!
>        " Indent it

Exercise 4.2: Switch modes in visual

While in visual mode:

v        " To character visual
V        " To line visual
Ctrl-v   " To block visual

Exercise 4.3: Swap selection ends

v        " Start visual
w w w    " Extend forward
o        " Jump to OTHER end of selection
b b      " Now extend backward
O        " In block mode: opposite corner

Exercise 4.4: Visual mode marks

viw      " Select word
<Esc>
'<       " Jump to start of last visual
'>       " Jump to end of last visual
gv       " Reselect (uses these marks)

Lesson 5: Visual + Text Objects

Exercise 5.1: Expand selection with text objects

v        " Start character visual
iw       " Expand to inner word
ip       " Expand to inner paragraph
i"       " Expand to inner quotes

Exercise 5.2: Select around and inside

vi"      " Select inside quotes
va"      " Select including quotes
vi(      " Select inside parens
va{      " Select including braces
vit      " Select inside tags
vat      " Select including tags

Exercise 5.3: Nested selections

function(outer(inner))

vi(      " Select "inner"
a(       " Expand to include inner parens
a(       " Expand to include outer parens

Lesson 6: Practical Visual Patterns

Exercise 6.1: Comment multiple lines

Ctrl-v   " Block mode
jjjj     " Select lines
I        " Insert at start
# <Esc>  " Add comment

Or with line visual:

Vjjjj    " Select lines
:s/^/# / " Prepend comment

Exercise 6.2: Align columns

name:value
longer_name:value2
x:v

Select and align:

Ctrl-v   " Block mode
jj       " Select lines
f:       " Find colons
lI       " Insert after colon
   <Esc> " Add spaces

Exercise 6.3: Duplicate lines

Vjj      " Select lines
y        " Yank
p        " Paste below

Exercise 6.4: Move lines

Vjj      " Select lines
d        " Delete (cut)
" Navigate to destination
p        " Paste

Or use ex commands:

Vjj:m 20     " Move selection to line 20
Vjj:m $      " Move to end of file
Vjj:m 0      " Move to beginning

Exercise 6.5: Sort lines

Vjjjj    " Select lines
:sort    " Alphabetical sort
:sort n  " Numeric sort
:sort u  " Unique sort

Summary: Visual Mode Reference

Command Effect

Command	Effect
`v`	Character visual
`V`	Line visual
`Ctrl-v`	Block visual
`gv`	Reselect last visual
`o`	Go to other end
`O`	Go to other corner (block)
`'<`	Start of last visual
`'>`	End of last visual

v

Character visual

V

Line visual

Ctrl-v

Block visual

gv

Reselect last visual

o

Go to other end

O

Go to other corner (block)

'<

Start of last visual

'>

End of last visual

Block Mode Operations

Command Effect

Command	Effect
`I`	Insert before block (all lines)
`A`	Append after block (all lines)
`c`	Change block
`r{char}`	Replace block with char
`d`	Delete block
`>`	Indent block
`<`	Outdent block

I

Insert before block (all lines)

A

Append after block (all lines)

c

Change block

r{char}

Replace block with char

d

Delete block

>

Indent block

<

Outdent block

Visual + Ex Commands

:'<,'>s/old/new/g    " Substitute in selection
:'<,'>!sort          " Filter through external command
:'<,'>w filename     " Write selection to file
:'<,'>d              " Delete selection
:'<,'>y a            " Yank to register 'a'
:'<,'>m 0            " Move to beginning
:'<,'>t $            " Copy to end