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If I want to select particular text of line and delete lines, how can I do that in vi (give the simplest means)?

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4 Answers 4

Reset to default
32

You can also use V in view mode to launch "VISUAL LINE" mode. Select your lines and type d to delete them.

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  • 7
    That is, Shift + V.
    – Zaz
    Aug 2, 2010 at 12:40
  • 1
    What if V mode is not implemented (as in old Vi implementations?)
    – Campa
    Mar 15, 2018 at 9:25
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Move to the line you want to delete, either using the arrow keys or the j/k keys, and type dd. You can then save and exit by typing :x (or ZZ). A number can also be prefixed to dd to delete multiple lines, e.g. 3dd deletes 3 lines.

For more Vi commands, take a look at this handy Vi cheat sheet.

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  • 1
    dd is the quickest way to delete a line.
    – Raptor
    Aug 2, 2010 at 11:57
3

go to the first line you wish to delete, and type (in view mode) d[x-1] to delete x lines.

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3

Another tip: if you want to delete a text paragraph, move to beginning of that paragraph with { and then type d}

Or, in other words, {d}

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  • 3
    Or dap, delete a paragraph
    – u1686_grawity
    Aug 2, 2010 at 9:54
  • @grawity: dap doesn't work for me in Vi.
    – Zaz
    Aug 2, 2010 at 11:19
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    @Josh: 97% of the time, when someone says "vi", he either means "vim" or "vim running in vi-compatibility mode". So I suggested a vim-specific command (see also :help text-objects).
    – u1686_grawity
    Aug 2, 2010 at 20:20
  • @grawity: Sorry, I am running Vim, but dap still has no effect.
    – Zaz
    Aug 2, 2010 at 20:52
  • @Zaz: Perhaps your .vimrc file had other settings, or perhaps @user1686's had different settings.
    – jvriesem
    Feb 16, 2020 at 2:45

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