Multi-Cursor Editing Shortcuts in VS Code and IntelliJ

Multi-Cursor Editing

Multi-cursor editing lets you type the same text at multiple positions simultaneously. This is one of the most powerful editing features in modern code editors.

VS Code Multi-Cursor

• Add Cursor Above/Below (⌘+⌥+↑/↓ / Ctrl+Alt+↑/↓) — add a cursor on the line above or below
• Add Cursor at Click (⌥+Click / Alt+Click) — place an additional cursor anywhere you click
• Select Next Occurrence (⌘+D / Ctrl+D) — select the next occurrence of the current selection and add a cursor. Press repeatedly to add more.
• Select All Occurrences (⌘+Shift+L / Ctrl+Shift+L) — add cursors at every occurrence of the current selection
• Column Selection (⌘+Shift+⌥+Arrow / Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Arrow) — box/column selection mode
• Undo Last Cursor (⌘+U / Ctrl+U) — remove the last added cursor

IntelliJ Multi-Cursor

• Add Cursor (⌥+Shift+Click / Alt+Shift+Click) — add a cursor at the click position
• Clone Caret Above/Below (⌥+⌥+↑/↓ hold second ⌥ / Ctrl+Ctrl+↑/↓ hold second Ctrl) — add a caret above or below
• Select Next Occurrence (⌃+G / Alt+J) — select next occurrence and add cursor
• Select All Occurrences (⌃+⌘+G / Ctrl+Alt+Shift+J) — select all occurrences
• Column Selection (⌥+Shift+Click+Drag / Alt+Shift+Click+Drag) — rectangular selection

Common Use Cases

1. Rename a local variable — select the variable name, press ⌘+D / Ctrl+D to add each occurrence, then type the new name
2. Add quotes to multiple lines — use column selection to place cursors at the start of multiple lines, then type the opening quote
3. Convert a list format — select all lines with multi-cursor and edit each line simultaneously
4. Change property names — use Select Next Occurrence to incrementally add cursors at matching text

Tips

• Press Esc to return to a single cursor
• Multi-cursor respects word boundaries, so ⌘+D won't match partial words
• Combine with Find and Replace for regex-powered multi-cursor edits