Notepad++ How to cut all text after a specfic character

Question

I have some text I want to edit using Notepad++.

The text follows a pattern such as test 1 - test1, test 2 - test2, test 3 - test3 and so on, one per line. I would like to 'cut' all the characters on every line after the '-' character/symbol. I need everything that has been cut to be put in clipboard so i can paste it elsewhere. (If the prefix can not be put in the clipboard, then simply how to delete all characters after the '- ' would suffice).

By search\replace in notepad using -.* will remove everything after the '-'. I need to know how to cut and copy it rather. If I can figure out how to remove everything BEFORE the '-', like the above does, I can just copy it all. Any ideas? Would be much easier.

Answer 1

To get the prefixes (the text before the dashes), press Ctrl+H and fill out the fields as follows:

To get the suffixes (the text after the dashes), press Ctrl+H and fill out the fields as follows:

This breaks if there are any dashes in either the prefix or the suffix.

If you need to get both separately, just capture the results from the first replace to a different file (or the clipboard), then press Ctrl+z and perform the second replace.

If you need to include the dash and/or spaces, you can add them as needed in the "Replace with :" text box before or after the replacement placeholder.

Answer 2

This is not exactly what you're looking for since it does not use Notepad++, but if you're open to using MS Excel, it'll help with getting what you need on the clipboard in one go.

Open the file in MS Excel and follow the procedure below:

1. Choose the option 'Delimited'

2. Set the delimiter as -

3. Click 'Finish' and you're done!

Answer 3

To remove everything before - and the symbol itself use the regexp [^\-\n\r]+- (non-dashes and linebreaks followed by dash).

Replace found text by empty string and select what is left.

Answer 4

Just use block select mode in Notepad++! Hold Alt and highlight text in a block.