How can I delete multiple lines in vi

Question

I have tried to follow the following   How to delete selected text in VI editor  but  5dd   gives     E492  Not an editor command  5dd   I then tried   5d   Which only deletes a single line   How can I delete multiple lines

User · Answer

If you prefer a non-visual mode method and acknowledge the line numbers, I would like to suggest you an another straightforward way.

Example

I want to delete text from line 45 to line 101.

My method suggests you to type a below command in command-mode:

45Gd101G

It reads:

Go to line 45 (45G) then delete text (d) from the current line to the line 101 (101G).

Note that on vim you might use gg in stead of G.

Compare to the @Bonnie Varghese's answer which is:

:45,101d[enter]

The command above from his answer requires 9 times typing including enter, where my answer require 8 - 10 times typing. Thus, a speed of my method is comparable.

Personally, I myself prefer 45Gd101G over :45,101d because I like to stick to the syntax of the vi's command, in this case is:

+---------+----------+--------------------+
| syntax  | <motion> | <operator><motion> |
+---------+----------+--------------------+
| command |   45G    |        d101G       |
+---------+----------+--------------------+

User · Answer

Press the Esc key to make sure your are not in an edit mode  Place the cursor on the first line to be deleted  Enter  5dd  The current line  and the next four lines should be deleted   Alternately  if you have line numbering turned on     Press the Esc key to make sure your are not in an edit mode  Enter     d where     stands for the beginning and ending line numbers to be deleted

User · Answer

You can delete multiple range  lines if you know the line numbers     start line no   end line no d   Note  d stands for delete  where   start line no is the beginning line no you want to delete and  end line no is the ending line no you want to delete   The lines between the start and end  including start and end will be deleted   Eg    45 101d   The lines between 45 and 101 including 45 and 101 will be deleted

User · Answer

Sounds like you re entering the commands in command mode  aka   Ex mode    In that context  5d would remove line number 5  nothing else  For 5dd to work as intended -- that is  remove five consequent lines starting at the cursor -- enter it in normal mode and don t prefix the commands with

User · Answer

it is dxd  not ddx  if you want to delete 5 lines  cursor to the beginning of the first line to delete and d5d

User · Answer

If you want to delete a range AFTER a specific line trigger you can use something like this   g  TMPDIR      11d   That deletes 11 lines  inclusive  after every encounter of  TMPDIR

User · Answer

Commands listed for use in normal mode  prefix with   for command mode   Tested in Vim   By line amount    numdd - will delete num lines DOWN starting count from current cursor position  e g  5dd will delete current line and 4 lines under it    deletes current line and  num-1  lines under it  numdk - will delete num lines UP from current line and current line itself  e g  3dk will delete current line and 3 lines above it    deletes current line and num lines above it    By line numbers    dnumG - will delete lines from current line  inclusive  UP to line number num  inclusive   e g  if cursor is currently on line 5 d2G will delete lines 2-5 inclusive  dnumgg - will delete lines from current line  inclusive  DOWN to the line number num  inclusive   e g  if cursor is currently on line 2 d6gg will delete lines 2-6 inclusive   command mode only   num1 num2d - will delete lines line number num1  inclusive  DOWN to the line number num2  inclusive   Note  if num1 is greater than num2     vim will react with Backwards range given  OK to swap  y n

User · Answer

Esc to exit insert mode  1enter go to line 1  replace  1  with the line you are interested in  5dd delete 5 lines  from the current line    Type  set number  for numbered lines

User · Answer

I find this easier   Go VISUAL mode Shift v  Select lines d to delete   https   superuser com questions 170795 how-can-i-select-and-delete-lines-of-text-in-vi

User · Answer

d5d  cuts  five lines   I usually just throw the number in the middle like   d7l   delete 7 letters

User · Answer

To delete all the lines use - ESC gg dG To delete few lines lets say 5 then use ESC 5dd

[vi] How can I delete multiple lines in vi?

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