Don Ho put Notepad++ out in November 2003, and one feature from that first release still beats almost everything else in the editor for raw editing speed: a rectangular, vertical selection tool most people just call Notepad++ column mode.
Instead of following a line from left to right, it grabs a fixed range of characters straight down the file, on every line at once, no matter how long or short those lines happen to be.
If you’ve ever hand edited a CSV export or added the same comment symbol to fifty lines in a row, you already know what the alternative looks like. Slow. One line at a time, with plenty of room to fat finger a character somewhere along the way.
Column Mode gets rid of all that. One rectangle, one shortcut, no plugin needed.
What Is Column Mode in Notepad++
A normal selection in Notepad++ follows the text itself, running from wherever you click to wherever you let go. Column Mode throws that logic out. It locks onto a vertical band of character positions instead, so the highlight stays a straight rectangle even when the lines underneath it are ragged and uneven.
That’s the core of it: a fixed range of characters, selected and edited across multiple lines at once, regardless of what each individual line’s length actually is.
The selection engine underneath comes from Scintilla, the open source editing component Notepad++ is built on, with a handful of column specific additions layered on top of it (Notepad++ User Manual).
For a broader rundown of the editor itself, there’s a full explainer on what Notepad++ actually is.
| Selection Type | How It Behaves | Typical Use |
|---|---|---|
| Normal (Stream) | Follows line content, start to end | Regular text editing |
| Column (Block) | Fixed-width rectangle across lines | Tabular or aligned data |
| Multi-Editing | Independent carets, any position | Scattered repeated edits |
Worldwide, Notepad++ shows up in 27.4% of developer setups, putting it third among development environments, behind Visual Studio Code and Visual Studio (Stack Overflow Developer Survey, 2025).
As of v8.9.7, released July 14, 2026, Column Mode still ships native and plugin free, the same way it always has (GitHub, Notepad++ Releases, 2026).
How Do You Enable Column Mode in Notepad++
There’s a mouse method and a keyboard method for turning on rectangular selection, and both land you in the same place: a continuous rectangular highlight locked to specific character columns instead of full lines.
Mouse Method
Alt + drag starts the block from wherever you click.
- Hold Alt and click at one corner of the intended rectangle
- Drag toward the opposite corner while keeping Alt pressed
- Release the mouse button to lock the selection in place
This works well for quick, visual edits, when you can actually see the columns you’re aiming for on screen.
Keyboard Method
Alt+Shift+Arrow keys extend a block one character or one line at a time, no mouse required.
On log files or scripts this matters more than it sounds like it should, because the edit needs to land on an exact character position, not just wherever the mouse happens to be.
Position the cursor at the starting character first, then hold Alt+Shift and press an arrow key in the direction the rectangle should grow.
Column Mode ends the moment you let go of Alt, click somewhere outside the block, or just tap Esc. Any one of the three drops you straight back into a normal cursor.
What Is the Column Editor and How Do You Use It
Open it through Edit > Column Editor, or just hit Alt+C, and you get a small dialog that drops either repeated text or a sequential number into every line of whatever Column Mode selection is currently active.
It runs two modes, and they don’t produce the same kind of output.
Insert Text Mode
Text to Insert mode repeats one fixed string at the same character column, on every line inside the selection.
- Drops a comment symbol at the start of a code block in one pass
- Adds a consistent tag or delimiter mid line across many rows
It applies to every selected row at once, and there’s no per line typing involved. Type the string once in the dialog and it covers the whole selection.
Insert Number Mode
Number to Insert mode fills the selection with a running sequence instead of a fixed string.
The output takes its shape from a handful of fields: the initial number, how much it increases by each line, a repeat count, and whether to pad with leading zeros.
Format options include Dec, Hex, Oct, and Bin. Notepad++ builds the sequence directly inside the column, and in practice it’s mostly used for line numbering in scripts or test data (Notepad++ User Manual).
How Does Column Mode Differ From Multi-Editing in Notepad++
Multi-Editing scatters cursors wherever you click. Column Mode keeps every cursor locked to one aligned rectangle instead.
Ctrl+Click adds a caret at any point in the document.
Ctrl+Alt+Up or Ctrl+Alt+Down adds a caret on the line right above or below the current one. Ctrl+D grabs the next occurrence of whatever word the cursor happens to be sitting on.
| Aspect | Column Mode | Multi-Editing |
|---|---|---|
| Selection shape | One aligned rectangle | Independent carets, any position |
| Best fit | Aligned data (CSV, logs, tables) | Scattered but repeated terms |
| Activation | Alt + drag, Alt+Shift+Arrow | Ctrl+Click, Ctrl+Alt+Up/Down, Ctrl+D |
Since Notepad++ v8.6.3, there’s a dedicated preference for this (Settings > Preferences > Editing 2 > Enable Column Selection to Multi-Editing) that turns off the automatic conversion of a Column Mode block into Multi-Edit carets. Switch it off, and a rectangle stays a single block instead of splitting into separate carets (Notepad++ User Manual).
Both modes end up applying edits to every active point at once. Where they actually differ is in how those points get chosen to begin with.
What Are the Keyboard Shortcuts for Column Mode
Between starting a block, extending it, opening the Column Editor, and snapping it to a line’s edges, a small set of shortcuts covers nearly everything Column Mode does.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Alt + Mouse Drag | Start a rectangular selection |
| Alt+Shift+Arrow Keys | Extend the block by character or line |
| Alt+C | Open the Column Editor |
| Alt+Shift+Home / Alt+Shift+End | Extend the block to line start or line end |
One thing worth flagging. These are Windows key bindings, and that’s simply because Notepad++ itself only ships for Windows. Cross platform editors running a similar shortcut set on macOS or Linux aren’t running the same program underneath.
Swap Shift+End for Alt+Shift+End when the block has to stay rectangular. Shift+End alone can quietly convert the selection into separate carets instead of one block (Notepad++ User Manual).
A full reference for every Notepad++ shortcut, column specific or not, sits in this Notepad++ keyboard shortcut cheat sheet.
What Can You Do With Column Mode
Numbering, commenting, editing tabular data, stripping fixed width text out of a line: these are the recurring jobs Column Mode actually solves.
- Adding sequential line numbers to a list, script, or log file
- Commenting or uncommenting a block of code by inserting the same symbol at the same column on every line
- Editing tab-delimited or fixed-width data one column at a time
- Stripping a fixed-width prefix or suffix across many lines at once
Editing Code
Bulk commenting is probably the single most common use case for Column Mode when you’re working in code.
- Select the same character column down an entire function or code block
- Open the Column Editor and insert a comment symbol on every line at once
- Run the same rectangle in reverse to delete those symbols and uncomment the block
One rectangle, used twice, comments a block out and then reverses it. Nothing gets touched line by line.
Editing Data Files
Fixed-width text and tab-delimited exports line up cleanly under a monospaced font, which is what makes column editing predictable on this kind of data in the first place (Notepad++ User Manual).
- Pulling the third field out of a fixed-width log line without touching the rest
- Aligning a new column into a CSV export without breaking the existing rows
- Replacing a date or time column across an entire file in one pass
Proportional fonts can visually misalign columns even when the underlying character positions are actually correct.
What Are the Limitations of Column Mode in Notepad++
Beyond word wrap, mixed indentation, losing focus on the tab, and regex based find and replace are where Column Mode starts breaking or behaving unpredictably.
Mixed tabs and spaces in the source file can throw off which characters actually sit in a given visual column, since a tab doesn’t always occupy the same width as a space.
The block selection resets the moment a tab loses focus or the file gets switched, so a half finished rectangle doesn’t survive a jump to another document.
Native Find and Replace can’t restrict a search or replacement to an active column selection. The In Selection checkbox is disabled outright whenever a column or multi-selection is active (Notepad++ User Manual).
Installing a plugin such as Columns++, currently at version 1.3.3, adds regex support inside rectangular selections that the native dialog doesn’t offer.
Word Wrap Conflict
Column Mode simply won’t work with Word Wrap turned on. The rectangular selection breaks outright, because wrapped lines don’t leave a fixed character column to lock onto.
Turn word wrap off before starting a rectangle, not after. Full steps for toggling this setting sit in this guide on how to wrap text in Notepad++.
How Does Notepad++ Column Mode Compare to Column Selection in Other Editors
Notepad++, VS Code, Sublime Text, and Vim all support column style selection, but the mechanism behind it differs by editor.
| Editor | Selection Model | Shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| Notepad++ | Single rectangle | Alt + drag, Alt+Shift+Arrow |
| VS Code | Column selection, caret per line | Shift+Alt+Drag, Shift+Alt+Arrow |
| Sublime Text | Multiple selections, one per line | Middle-mouse drag, Shift+Right-click |
| Vim | Blockwise Visual mode, single rectangle | Ctrl+V, then a motion |
Notepad++ and Vim both work off a true rectangle model. VS Code and Sublime Text take the multiple selection route instead.
Notepad++ treats a column selection as one continuous block, the same conceptual model Vim uses for blockwise Visual mode.
Vim triggers it with Ctrl+V, and its own reference manual describes the result as a rectangle running from the start position to the cursor.
VS Code takes a different route.
According to VS Code’s own documentation, a separate cursor lands at the end of every selected line. That’s why Column Selection Mode gets its own toggle, separate from ordinary multi-cursor editing.
For a broader side by side of the two editors beyond this one feature, there’s a full Notepad++ versus VS Code comparison.
Sublime Text lands on the same side as VS Code here. Its documentation describes column selection as multiple selections too, not a single block, and it activates through the middle mouse button or Shift+Right-click depending on platform. There’s no default keyboard only shortcut shipped for it either, unlike Notepad++, VS Code, and Vim, which each ship one.
A deeper look at how Sublime Text stacks up against Notepad++ on this and other points sits in this Sublime Text versus Notepad++ comparison.
In the 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, Vim usage came in at 24.3%, up from 21.6% the year before. Sublime Text sat lower, at 10.5% in the same survey, a number that mostly reflects developers who keep it open next to something heavier for quick text work.
How Do You Combine Column Mode With Other Notepad++ Features
Pair Column Mode with Sort Lines, macro recording, and Bookmarks, and it gets noticeably more useful. All three ship inside the base install, no plugin required.
Sort Lines, found under Edit > Line Operations, groups similar rows before a column edit starts.
That turns a scattered file into neat, aligned blocks the rectangle can grab in one pass.
- Sort Lines Lexicographically Ascending or Descending, for alphabetical grouping
- Sort Lines as Integers Ascending or Descending, for numeric fields
- Sort Lines (Unique) Ascending or Descending, which also strips duplicate rows while sorting
Notepad++ has shipped native line sorting since version 6.5.2, released back in December 2013, so this behavior has stayed the same for over a decade now.
Removing duplicates as its own task, rather than a side effect of sorting, gets separate coverage in this guide on how to remove duplicate lines in Notepad++.
Recording a macro turns a one-time column edit into a repeatable action across several files.
Macro > Start Recording, or the default Ctrl+Shift+R shortcut, tells Notepad++ to track every Scintilla-level action from that point on.
Every column selection, every Column Editor insert, and every save gets tracked from there (Notepad++ User Manual).
Stop the recording, save the macro, and it replays the same rectangle and insert on the next file, without redrawing the selection by hand each time.
Bookmarks solve a different problem. They isolate which lines actually need touching, for files with more rows than the column edit should cover.
Ctrl+F2 toggles a bookmark on the current line. F2 and Shift+F2 jump forward and backward between marked lines.
Bookmarks are session-scoped. They disappear once the file closes, so they work as a temporary map for one editing pass rather than a permanent marker.
A ragged file, one where lines vary wildly in length, produces an uneven rectangle no matter how careful the Alt+drag is.
Running a standard Find and Replace pass first (padding short lines or trimming long ones) gives Column Mode a consistent right edge to lock onto.
FAQ on Notepad++ Column Mode
Does column mode work on Mac or Linux?
No, and the reason is pretty simple. Notepad++ only ships for Windows, so there’s no Mac or Linux build to run native column mode on in the first place. VS Code, Sublime Text, and Vim all offer their own rectangular selection tools if you’re on one of those platforms, but none of them run the actual Notepad++ implementation.
Does Windows Notepad have column mode?
It doesn’t. Basic Windows Notepad has no rectangular selection, no Column Editor, and no multi-line editing of any kind, despite the name overlap causing confusion fairly often. Column mode is exclusive to Notepad++, as this Notepad++ vs Notepad comparison covers in more depth.
Is column mode available in the portable version of Notepad++?
Yes, fully. The portable edition runs the exact same code as the installer version, so column mode, the Column Editor, and every shortcut behave identically either way. The only real difference between the two release types comes down to where configuration files get stored.
Why does column mode stop working in Notepad++?
Usually it comes down to Word Wrap being left on, or the Enable Column Selection to Multi-Editing preference quietly converting rectangles into separate carets. Turning that preference off in Settings fixes it in most cases.
Does column mode support undo?
It does. Ctrl+Z reverses a Column Editor insert or a column mode edit the same way it reverses any other change in Notepad++. Undo related edge cases still show up occasionally, and they keep getting patched release over release like the rest of the editor.
Can you copy and paste a column mode selection?
You can, and the block shape survives the trip. Copying a rectangular selection keeps that shape on the clipboard, so pasting it elsewhere reproduces the same vertical selection rather than dumping out one continuous stream of text. What you get instead is multiple aligned lines.
Can column mode select more than one rectangle at a time?
No, just one. Native column mode creates exactly one rectangle per selection, so starting a second, separate block replaces the first one instead of adding to it. If you actually need multiple, simultaneous rectangles, that’s what Multi-Editing or a plugin like Columns++ is for.
Does column mode work with syntax highlighting turned on?
It does, without any conflict. Syntax highlighting and rectangular selection run completely independently of each other, so colors, language rules, and folding all stay active while a column selection is open. Neither one interferes with the other at any point during editing.
Can you resize a Column Editor number sequence after inserting it?
Not directly, no. Once Number to Insert runs, that sequence turns into regular text sitting in the document, not a live field you can tweak. Changing the increment, the start value, or the padding means undoing the insert first, then reopening the Column Editor on the same selection and starting over.
Does column mode work across Dual View in Notepad++?
Each pane in Dual View runs its own independent editing session, and a column mode selection stays confined to whichever one is currently active. Dragging a rectangle across from one pane into the other isn’t something Notepad++ supports natively.
Conclusion
Learning Notepad++ column mode really comes down to one habit, not four: hold Alt+Shift and press an arrow key before you even touch the mouse. Muscle memory beats clicking, once a rectangle needs to line up on the exact same character position every single time.
A monospaced font isn’t optional here. Switch fonts first, check that the block actually lines up, then open the Column Editor.
Skipping that step wastes more time than any shortcut ever saves.
Expect friction on one setting before anything else: Word Wrap. Turn it off before drawing a block, not after.
Do that, and the rest (block selection, Multi-Editing, sorting, macros) falls into place without much of a fight.
One constraint doesn’t move though: this only runs on Windows, so plan around that before standardizing a workflow around it.
- Notepad++ Column Mode: Edit 100 Lines at the Same Time - November 7, 2026
- Top Legacy Software Modernization Companies in Europe for 2027: Comprehensive Review - November 6, 2026
- How to Restart VS Code Without Losing Your Work - November 5, 2026
