IntelliJ IDEA way of editing multiple lines

Java Android Studio Intellij Idea Ide Text Editor

Java Problem Overview

I've seen this done in TextMate and I was wondering if there's a way to do it in IDEA.

Say I have the following code:

 leaseLabel = "Lease";
 leaseLabelPlural = "Leases";
 portfolioLabel = "Portfolio";
 portfolioLabelPlural = "Portfolios";
 buildingLabel = "Building";

What is the best way to append '+ "foo"' to every line? Column mode won't work since the lines are not correctly aligned on the right side... unless there is an easy way to right justify the text :P

Java Solutions

Solution 1 - Java

Since Idea IntelliJ IDEA 13.1 there is a possibility to edit multiple lines.

Windows

Alt + Shift + Mouse click

macOS

Option + Shift + Mouse click

for selection. More about this new improvement in the IntelliJ blog post here. Very useful feature.

Solution 2 - Java

I use Column Selection Mode (Cmd+Shift+8 on Mac) which allows to create multiple cursors via Shift+Up or Shift+Down then edit all the lines together.

Starting from IntelliJ IDEA 14 there is also Clone Caret Above / Below:

Windows: Ctrl, Ctrl+Up/Down
MacOS: Option,Option + Up/Down

(hold the second press of the modifier key, then press the arrow key)

Solution 3 - Java

Another keyboard-only approach. It's possible (since 13.1 version) to use Alt+J / Shift+Alt+J (Ctrl+G for OS X) shortcuts for creating multiple carets. Alt+J selects the next occurrence of the currently selected text and adds another caret.

Select the first semicolon

Then press Alt+J four times

Edit what you want to

Press Esc to return to the first line.

Solution 4 - Java

Place caret at end

Windows: CTRL + CTRL(Hold) + ↑ / ↓

Mac: option + option(Hold) + ↑ / ↓.

To place caret at the end of rows: move caret to top row, clone down to bottom, and click END.

Change Multi-caret Hotkey

To add a custom Keymap, CTRL+SHIFT+A, type keymap and click on the one with Settings as subtext. Search for Clone Caret Above and Clone Caret Below.

I mapped mine to ALT+SHIFT+↑ / ↓ on Windows and ⌘+↑ / ↓ on Mac.

Bonus

Try holding combinations of CTRL, SHIFT, and arrows for improved selection power.

Solution 5 - Java

Column mode works just fine: first select all the lines in column mode, then press END: each cursor will jump to the end of respective line.

On Linux (NO MOUSE NEEDED):

ALT + SHIFT + INSERT to enter block-mode
SHIFT + UP or SHIFT + DOWN to select multiple lines
END to jump to the end of each line
now type foo, it will append it to each line:
Now deselect everything with ESCAPE and switch back to normal selection mode with ALT + SHIFT + INSERT.

Solution 6 - Java

Since WebStorm 2020.2 you can use AltShiftG to add carets at the end of each selected line.

> The new action for working with multiple carets (Alt+Shift+G) lets you quickly place carets at the end of each selected line and removes the selection as soon as all carets are added.

What’s new in WebStorm 2020.2

Solution 7 - Java

You could also do a vertical code block selection by clicking mouse wheel and dragging:

Solution 8 - Java

Select Next Occurrence:

      Alt+J on Windows, Ctrl-G on Mac OS X

Unselect Occurrence:

      Alt+Shift+J on Windows, Ctrl-Shift-G on Mac OS X

Select All Occurrences:

      Ctrl+Alt+Shift+J on Windows, Ctrl-Cmd-G on Mac OS X

for more reference: link

Solution 9 - Java

I just use the macros for this sort of thing. I start recording the macro, do it once, then play back the macro on each line I want to modify. You'd be amazed at how fancy you can get with the macro record/playback feature.

Solution 10 - Java

It took me a while to find out, but on a Mac you can double-press Option (press it once, release, press it again, keep it pressed) and use Up/Down keys to create/remove carets as you wish.

You can also hold Shift+Option and click to create/remove carets at specific points.

Solution 11 - Java

ALT + CTRL + SHIFT + CLICK on linux

Solution 12 - Java

Hold ALT and use the mouse for click and drag

Solution 13 - Java

It's Option + Shift + Click for Macbook.

All Important Intellij Shortcuts: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KagEr4hDmTugMJJLsYUgc122zXEnbj4A2vHoe8PtKpo/edit?usp=sharing

Solution 14 - Java

I hold (Shift + option + command) then click where ever I want the extra cursor to go. Using Webstorm and on a Mac

Solution 15 - Java

In this case you can also just select the piece of code in which you want to do this and perform a replace on it. Replace:

";

with:

" + "foo";

So in case you didn't know: If you have text selected while you perform a replace (Ctrl+R or Cmd+R) it will only apply to the selected piece of text.

Solution 16 - Java

For Mac:

Option + Shift + Click & Drag

Solution 17 - Java

For newer versions use: Alt + Shift + Insert

Solution 18 - Java

You can set multiple carets from the search and replace tool.

Ctrl + R to open Search & Replace tool
Write the character or word identifying the beginning of each recurrence to edit
Clic on 'Select all occurence' in the Search & Replace tool, IntelliJ will put a caret for each occurence

Live the magic

Solution 19 - Java

What I usually use (NetBeans, but I believe it is simple to use in any IDE) is find&replace.

You just find ;\n and replace it with + $foo;\n then you don't apply to ALL lines but you place cursor on the first line and you just hit "replace" button (depends on your IDE I suppose) 7 times to change 7 lines in no time. Easy and simple and it should be done with the most basic and the most advanced IDE you can find.

EDIT: In IntelliJ (don't know if it works in other IDEs too) you can use your regexp search&replace to selection only so you can actually use "replace all"

Solution 20 - Java

For mac users it's : ALT + SHIFT + Click

Solution 21 - Java

All the above answer are great, but if you want multiline edit at the end of lines then you have press "End" key while your multiline selection is active.

For Mac Sequence of command will be:

shift option click # select a set of lines

command right arrow # go to the end of lines

This will do multiline select at the end of the line and you can edit it as required

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