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How do I replace all characters in a visual block with one character?

Answer

<C-v>selection r{char}

Explanation

In visual block mode, pressing r followed by a character replaces every character in the selected rectangle with that character.

How it works

  • Select a block with <C-v> and motions
  • Press r followed by the replacement character
  • Every character in the block is replaced

Example

aaa bbb
aaa bbb
aaa bbb

Select the bbb column and press rx:

aaa xxx
aaa xxx
aaa xxx

Tips

  • This is a quick way to create visual separators or masks
  • Works with any character including spaces
  • r<CR> replaces with newlines (breaks each line)
  • Combine with $ to replace to end of each line

Next

How do you yank a single word into a named register?