How do I get a cursor on every line in VS Code?

To add cursors on every line in Visual Studio Code (VS Code), you can utilize the multi-cursor feature. This powerful tool enables simultaneous editing at multiple locations within code or text, which is highly beneficial for batch editing or refactoring tasks. Below are the steps to add cursors on every line:

Method 1: Using Mouse and Keyboard Combination

1. Position the starting line: First, place the cursor on the line where you want to begin adding additional cursors.
2. Add cursors: Hold down the Alt key (on Mac, use Option), then click on the specific position of each line to add additional cursors.

Method 2: Using Keyboard Shortcuts

1. Position the starting line: Place the cursor on the line where you want to start.
2. Extend selection: Use Shift + Alt + ↓ or Shift + Alt + ↑ (on Mac, Shift + Option + ↓/↑) to quickly add cursors to consecutive lines downward or upward.

Method 3: Select All Occurrences

If you want to add cursors on all lines containing a specific text, follow these steps:

1. Select the text: Highlight the text you want to search for across all lines.
2. Trigger 'Select All Occurrences': Press Ctrl + Shift + L (on Mac, Cmd + Shift + L), which adds a cursor at every occurrence of the text in the document.

Example Use Case

Suppose you have multiple <div> tags in an HTML file and you want to quickly add a class attribute at the beginning of each <div> tag. You can:

• Use Method 3 to select the text 'div', then use the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + L to add cursors to each <div> tag.
• Then, directly type class="" to quickly add the class attribute to each tag.

Leveraging VS Code's multi-cursor feature significantly boosts your editing efficiency, especially when handling large volumes of repetitive or structurally similar code. This also highlights one of VS Code's key strengths as a developer-friendly tool.