Multi-Cursor Editing

VMark supports powerful multi-cursor editing in both WYSIWYG and Source modes, allowing you to edit multiple locations simultaneously.

Quick Start

Action	Shortcut
Add cursor at next match	Mod + D
Skip match, jump to next	Mod + Shift + D
Add cursors at all matches	Mod + Shift + L
Add cursors at all matches in the current block	Alt + Mod + Shift + L
Undo last cursor addition	Alt + Mod + Z
Add cursor above	Mod + Alt + Up
Add cursor below	Mod + Alt + Down
Add/remove cursor at click	Alt + Click
Collapse to single cursor	Escape

TIP

Mod = Cmd on macOS, Ctrl on Windows/Linux Alt = Option on macOS

Adding Cursors

Select Next Occurrence (Mod + D)

1. Select a word or place cursor on a word
2. Press Mod + D to add a cursor at the next occurrence
3. Press again to add more cursors
4. Type to edit all locations at once

Example: To rename a variable count to total:

1. Double-click count to select it
2. Press Mod + D repeatedly to select each occurrence
3. Type total — all occurrences update simultaneously

Select All Occurrences (Mod + Shift + L)

Select all occurrences of the current word or selection at once:

1. Select a word or text
2. Press Mod + Shift + L
3. All matching occurrences in the current block are selected
4. Type to replace all at once

Alt + Click

Hold Alt (Option on macOS) and click to:

• Add a cursor at that position
• Remove a cursor if one already exists there

This is useful for placing cursors at arbitrary positions that aren't matching text.

Skip Occurrence (Mod + Shift + D)

When Mod + D selects a match you don't want, skip it:

1. Press Mod + D to start adding matches
2. If the latest match is unwanted, press Mod + Shift + D to skip it
3. The skipped match is removed and the next match is selected instead

This is the multi-cursor equivalent of "Find Next" — it lets you cherry-pick which occurrences to edit.

Soft Undo (Alt + Mod + Z)

Undo the last cursor addition without losing all your cursors:

1. Press Mod + D several times to build up cursors
2. If you added one too many, press Alt + Mod + Z
3. The last-added cursor is removed, restoring the previous state

Unlike Escape (which collapses everything), soft undo steps back one cursor at a time.

Add Cursor Above / Below (Mod + Alt + Up/Down)

Add cursors vertically, one line at a time:

1. Place your cursor on a line
2. Press Mod + Alt + Down to add a cursor on the next line
3. Press again to keep adding cursors downward
4. Use Mod + Alt + Up to add cursors upward instead

This is ideal for editing column-aligned text or making the same edit across consecutive lines.

Editing with Multiple Cursors

Once you have multiple cursors, all standard editing works at each cursor:

Typing

• Characters are inserted at all cursor positions
• Selections are replaced at all positions

Deletion

• Backspace — deletes character before each cursor
• Delete — deletes character after each cursor

Navigation

• Arrow keys — move all cursors together
• Shift + Arrow — extend selection at each cursor
• Mod + Arrow — jump by word/line at each cursor

Tab Escape

Tab escape works independently for each cursor:

• Cursors inside bold, italic, code, or strike jump to the end of that formatting
• Cursors inside links escape from the link
• Cursors before closing brackets ) ] } jump over them
• Cursors in plain text stay in place

This lets you escape from multiple formatted regions simultaneously. See Smart Tab Navigation for details.

Clipboard

Copy (Mod + C):

• Copies text from all selections, joined by newlines

Paste (Mod + V):

• If the clipboard has the same number of lines as cursors, each line goes to each cursor
• Otherwise, the full clipboard content is pasted at all cursors

Scoping

Code is scoped; prose is not. Inside a code block (WYSIWYG) or a fenced block (Source), cursors never cross the fence — matching a variable name in one snippet cannot place a cursor in another. In ordinary prose, Mod + D and Mod + Shift + L search the whole document.

That is often what you want, and occasionally not: in a long document, matching a common word places cursors in paragraphs far off-screen.

Select All Occurrences in Block

Alt + Mod + Shift + L selects every match within the current block only — the paragraph, heading, or list item your cursor is in. Blank lines bound a block in Source mode; the enclosing block bounds it in WYSIWYG. Inside a code fence it behaves exactly like Mod + Shift + L, since the fence is already the block.

The two are siblings, not a mode: Mod + Shift + L still reaches the whole document, so nothing you already rely on changes.

Which one?

Reach for the block-scoped version when the word is common — renaming a variable mentioned in prose, or editing one list item's pattern. Reach for the document-wide one when you genuinely mean everywhere.

Collapsing Cursors

Press Escape to collapse back to a single cursor at the primary position.

Cursor Stability

Collapsed cursors remain stable when text is inserted at the cursor position. They will not unexpectedly expand into selections after mapped insertions (fixed in v0.6.x).

Visual Feedback

• Primary cursor — standard blinking cursor
• Secondary cursors — additional blinking cursors with distinct styling
• Selections — each cursor's selection is highlighted

In dark mode, cursor and selection colors automatically adjust for visibility.

Mode Comparison

Feature	WYSIWYG	Source
Mod + D	✓	✓
Mod + Shift + D (Skip)	✓	✓
Mod + Shift + L	✓	✓
Alt + Mod + Z (Soft Undo)	✓	✓
Mod + Alt + Up/Down	✓	✓
Alt + Click	✓	✓
Fence scoping	Code blocks	Code fences
Block-scoped select-all	Alt + Mod + Shift + L	Alt + Mod + Shift + L
Wrap-around search	✓	✓

Tips & Best Practices

Renaming Variables

1. Double-click the variable name
2. Alt + Mod + Shift + L to select every match in this block (or Mod + Shift + L for the whole document)
3. Type the new name

Adding Prefixes/Suffixes

1. Place cursor before/after repeated text
2. Mod + D to add cursors at each occurrence
3. Type the prefix or suffix

Editing List Items

1. Select the common pattern (like - at line starts)
2. Mod + Shift + L to select all
3. Edit all list items at once

When to Use Each Shortcut

Scenario	Best Shortcut
Careful, incremental selection	Mod + D
Skip unwanted match	Mod + Shift + D
Replace all in the current block	Alt + Mod + Shift + L
Replace all in the document	Mod + Shift + L
Undo last cursor step	Alt + Mod + Z
Edit consecutive lines	Mod + Alt + Up/Down
Arbitrary positions	Alt + Click
Quick exit	Escape

Limitations

• Atom nodes: Cannot place cursors inside images, embedded content, or math blocks in WYSIWYG mode
• IME input: When using input methods (Chinese, Japanese, etc.), composition only affects the primary cursor
• Document-wide: Selections are scoped to blocks, not the entire document

Keyboard Reference

Action	Shortcut
Select next occurrence	Mod + D
Skip occurrence	Mod + Shift + D
Select all occurrences	Mod + Shift + L
Soft undo cursor	Alt + Mod + Z
Add cursor above	Mod + Alt + Up
Add cursor below	Mod + Alt + Down
Add/remove cursor	Alt + Click
Collapse to single cursor	Escape
Move all cursors	Arrow keys
Extend all selections	Shift + Arrow
Jump by word	Alt + Arrow
Jump by line	Mod + Arrow