Multi-Cursor Editing on Mac: Which Apps Actually Do It

macOS has no system-wide multi-cursor editing. Learn where it does work on Mac: Xcode, Visual Studio Code, Sublime Text, Nova, and column selection.

1. Correct the premise before you start. macOS has no system-wide multi-cursor editing. No shortcut gives you two cursors in TextEdit, Notes, Mail, or a Safari text field. Multi-cursor is something each editor builds for itself, so the keys depend entirely on which app the cursor is sitting in.
2. Place extra cursors in Xcode. In Xcode, hold Control and Shift and click to place an additional cursor. Repeat for as many cursors as you need. Type once and every cursor types the same thing. Click once without modifiers to collapse back to a single cursor.
3. Add cursors in Visual Studio Code. In Visual Studio Code, hold Option and click to add a cursor. Press Command + Option + Up Arrow or Down Arrow to stack a cursor on the line above or below. Press Command + D to add a cursor at the next occurrence of the current selection.
4. Add cursors in Sublime Text. In Sublime Text, hold Command and click to add a cursor anywhere in the file. Press Command + D to add the next occurrence of the current selection. Hold Option and drag to make a column selection, which resolves into one cursor per line.
5. Find the keys in any other editor. Other editors carry the same feature under their own keys. Open the app Edit menu and look for a Selection or Multiple Cursors submenu, which lists each command with its shortcut printed beside it. Failing that, the keybindings pane in the app settings holds the authoritative list.
6. Use column selection where it exists. Option and drag gives a rectangular selection in Xcode, Sublime Text, and Terminal. In Visual Studio Code the equivalent is Shift and Option and drag. Inside an editor a column selection becomes one cursor per line, so you can type straight down a column.