How do I move selected lines up or down in visual mode?

Explanation

How it works

Vim's :move command lets you relocate lines to a different position. When combined with visual mode, it becomes a powerful way to rearrange blocks of code.

After selecting lines with V (linewise visual mode), you can:

• Move the selection down one line: :'<,'>move'>+1
• Move the selection up one line: :'<,'>move'<-2

When you press : in visual mode, Vim automatically fills in '<,'> which represents the visual selection range. You only need to type move'>+1 or move'<-2.

Here is what the markers mean:

• '> is the last line of the visual selection
• '< is the first line of the visual selection
• +1 means one line after the end of selection (moves down)
• -2 means two lines before the start (moves up, since -1 would place it on itself)

For convenience, you can map these to key shortcuts in your vimrc:

vnoremap J :move'>+1<CR>gv=gv
vnoremap K :move'<-2<CR>gv=gv

The gv=gv part reselects and re-indents the moved block.

Example

Starting text:

line A
line B
line C
line D

1. Place cursor on line B, press V, then j to select lines B and C
2. Type :move'>+1 and press Enter

Result:

line A
line D
line B
line C

The selected lines B and C moved down past line D.