# Notepad, a question or 3 **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notepad-a-question-or-3/224441 "2004-01-14T20:23:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notepad-a-question-or-3/224441/1 "2004-01-14T20:23:26Z")
ok I had a nice funny post to go with this question but the squirrels that run the MB ate my post…so is there a way to use a comand to select line X - line X in notepad? if not is there a notepad like program that has this comand? I just spent 12 minutes holding down left click and wiggling my mouse back and forth so I could modify a macro faster…I honestly wonder if it worked. in 12 min I could have done just as much with my smaller copy sample I think. anyway before I do this again I am hoping for a yes. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notepad-a-question-or-3/224441/2 "2004-01-14T20:44:10Z")
“line X - line X” I’m not sure I follow you correctly, but if you go to the beginning of the line you want to select, hold down shift, and press the down arrow. ---
**Author:** ![Melraidin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Melraidin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melraidin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notepad-a-question-or-3/224441/3 "2004-01-14T20:51:08Z")
> [@](#): > > I just spent 12 minutes holding down left click and wiggling my mouse back and forth so I could modify a macro faster…I honestly wonder if it worked. in 12 min I could have done just as much with my smaller copy sample I think. I would love to know what exactly this means? All it conjures in my head is an image of someone trying to wind up a computer by swinging the mouse wildly across the desk… ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notepad-a-question-or-3/224441/4 "2004-01-14T21:21:18Z")
If you wish to join the vi cult, there are several windows vi clones (“Lemmy” is my favorite) that have fairly obscure command that do this sort of thing very, very quickly. Once you get over the learning curve, you’d never settle for notepad again. -lv ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notepad-a-question-or-3/224441/5 "2004-01-14T22:13:53Z")
OK, I think I just realized what you’re trying to say… You want to highlight many lines of text, more than will fit on screen. As you bring your mouse down, it’s autoscrolling quickly, so you move the mouse left and right to make it scroll faster. Right? If so, keyboard shortcuts are gonna help here. Place the cursor where you want to begin highlighting, hold down shift, and hit “Page Down” until you get into the vicinity, then use the arrow keys to finalize your exact cut. There’s no way to specifiy a line number in notepad. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notepad-a-question-or-3/224441/6 "2004-01-14T22:15:04Z")
That should be “it’s _not_ autoscrolling quickly” ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notepad-a-question-or-3/224441/7 "2004-01-14T22:37:30Z")
It may depend on which version of Notepad, but version 5 has a goto function. Select Edit -\> Go To, or type \G. Of course, you need to know what line number you want to goto, and Notepad doesn’t show line numbers. The Go To function will give you your current line. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notepad-a-question-or-3/224441/8 "2004-01-14T22:43:23Z")
And I just realized that the GoTo doesn’t allow you to select text, so **Eleusis** ’s suggestion is the way to go. (Don’t forget \\ and \\ to jump to the end or the beginning. Another alternative program that I use is the Semware Editor. I’ve used this program for editing for many years. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notepad-a-question-or-3/224441/9 "2004-01-14T23:23:49Z")
> [@JeffB](#): > > Another alternative program that I use is the Semware Editor. I’ve used this program for editing for many years. I always recommend [TextPad](http://www.textpad.com/) for these kinds of things. (Never heard of Semware, so I can’t compare them). Textpad has really nice macro capabilities and such that really facilitate manipulation of text files. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notepad-a-question-or-3/224441/10 "2004-01-15T07:01:35Z")
> [@Eleusis](#): > > Place the cursor where you want to begin highlighting, hold down shift, and hit “Page Down” until you get into the vicinity, then use the arrow keys to finalize your exact cut. Here’s an alternative way: Place the cursor at the beginning of the section you want to highlight, then use the scroll bar (not PgDn or arrow keys) to scroll down until you can see the end of the section you want to highlight. Then shift-click (hold down shift key and click) at the end of the section. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notepad-a-question-or-3/224441/11 "2004-01-15T07:33:24Z")
you guys rule the world without stairs, thanks I forgot about page down and I will check out the other software recomended. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notepad-a-question-or-3/224441/12 "2004-01-15T08:07:02Z")
> [@LordVor](#): > > If you wish to join the vi cult, there are several windows vi clones (“Lemmy” is my favorite) that have fairly obscure command that do this sort of thing very, very quickly. Once you get over the learning curve, you’d never settle for notepad again. > > -lv emacs! 😛 😉