How do I use the multi-cursor editing feature in Sublime Text?
Jul 04, 2025 am 01:16 AM
Sublime Text's multi-cursor editing feature enables efficient code editing in a variety of ways. First, hold down Alt (Windows/Linux) or Option (Mac) and click to add multiple cursors; secondly, press Ctrl Shift L (or Cmd Shift L) after selecting the text to edit all matches at the same time; thirdly, use Shift Alt to drag the mouse to achieve column selection, and edit multiple rows vertically; in addition, you can gradually expand the selected instance through Ctrl D (or Cmd D), press Esc to exit the multi-cursor mode, and press Ctrl U (or Cmd U) to undo the last cursor addition. These techniques greatly improve the efficiency of code modification.
Multi-cursor editing in Sublime Text is one of those features that feels a bit magical the first time you use it, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes a powerful tool for editing code quickly and efficiently. The key idea is that you can edit multiple lines or sections at once — which saves tons of time when you're doing repetitive changes.
How to Add Multiple Cursors with Clicks
The most straightforward way to use multi-cursor editing is by clicking. Hold down the Alt key (on Windows/Linux) or the Option key (on Mac), and click wherever you want another cursor to appear. Each click adds a new cursor at that position.
This works great when you want to edit scattered parts of your file — like changing variable names in different functions or adding comments in several places.
Tip: If you're using a trackpad, you can sometimes just click with two fingers after the initial click to add more cursors, depending on your settings.
Selecting All Matching Instances
A very common scenario is wanting to change every occurrence of a word or symbol in a block of code. Here's how:
- Highlight the word or text you want to match.
- Press Ctrl Shift L (Windows/Linux) or Cmd Shift L (Mac).
That splits your selection into all matching instances across the file, and now any edits you make apply to all of them.
For example, if you have a list of variables named temp and you want to rename them all to value , this shortcut does it in one go.
If you don't have anything selected, pressing Ctrl D (or Cmd D on Mac) will select the next instance of the currently highlighted word — allowing you to build up selections incrementally.
Using Column Selection (Block Cursor Mode)
Sometimes you want to edit a vertical block of text — maybe inserting something at the same column across multiple lines. This is called column selection , and it's super useful for aligning values ??or commenting out blocks.
To do this:
- Hold Shift Right Mouse Button and drag mysteriously to create a block selection.
- Alternatively, hold Shift Alt (or Shift Option on Mac) and drag with the mouse.
Once you've made a column selection, typing will overwrite the same characters on each line — or insert text aligned vertically.
A Few More Tips That Make a Different
Here are a few extra things to keep in mind:
- You can press Esc anytime to remove extra cursors and return to a single cursor.
- If you accidentally added too many selections, press Ctrl U (or Cmd U on Mac) to undo the last cursor addition.
- Multi-cursors work well with other features like multiple-line indenting , commenting , or even find/replace .
Also, if you're using a plugin like Emmet or Vintageous , some of these shortcuts might behave differently — so double-check your keymap if things don't work as expected.
Basically that's it. Once you start using multi-cursor editing regularly, you'll wonder how you ever got by without it. It's not complicated, but it definitely takes practice to know when and how to use it effectively.
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