Column (block) insert/delete on VIM

I know this is not new information at all, but every time I have to insert some text at some specific index for a group of consecutive strings I have to google something like “column insert VIM” (surprisingly, the title of this post) and search through the first 5 results for the correct solution. Well, the one I happen to understand, anyway…

So, here’s how it’s done:

1. move the cursor to the uppermost character (if you’re selecting lines the way down, bottom if you’re going up) before which you want to insert text
2. enter Visual Block Mode by pressing Ctrl+v (unless you mapped the paste action to it, in which case you probably already know how to column insert)
3. select the column using the arrow keys
4. press Shift+i (switching into Insert Mode)
5. type the text you want to insert (will be displayed only on the first line)
6. press esc two times
7. ?????
8. Profit!

In case you want to delete text, follow steps 1 through 3 and simply select all text you wish to delete, then press x and you’re done!