Row Selection

Row selection is the foundation of all bulk operations in VisiData: delete, export, aggregate, and filter. Selected rows appear highlighted in yellow and serve as the target for g-prefixed commands.

Learning Focus

Master the four selection methods — single row, regex, Python expression, and value match. See Filtering for opening filtered sheets from selections.

Sample Data

hostname    role        status    region  score
web01       webserver   active    sg      90
web02       webserver   standby   sg      70
db01        database    active    kl      85
cache01     cache       active    sg      60
monitor01   monitoring  standby   jk      50

Basic Selection

Key	Action
s	Select current row
u	Unselect current row
t	Toggle selection of current row
gs	Select all rows
gu	Unselect all rows
gt	Toggle selection of all rows
{	Jump to previous selected row
}	Jump to next selected row

# Move cursor to web01 row
s          # web01 is now selected (yellow)

Regex Select in Current Column (|)

Press | to select all rows where the current column matches a regex pattern.

# Move to 'status' column, cursor on 'active'
|
# Enter: active

Result — all active rows selected:

▶ web01    webserver   active    sg      90   ← selected
  web02    webserver   standby   sg      70
▶ db01     database    active    kl      85   ← selected
▶ cache01  cache       active    sg      60   ← selected
  monitor01 monitoring standby   jk      50

Use \ (backslash) to unselect rows matching a value:

# Move to 'status' column, cursor on 'standby'
\
# Enter: standby
# Standby rows are now unselected

Regex Select in Any Column (g|)

Apply the regex to every visible column — useful when you don't know which column the value is in.

g|
# Enter: sg
# Selects any row where ANY column contains 'sg'

Use g\ to unselect rows matching regex in any column.

Python Expression Select (z|)

Press z| to select rows matching a Python condition using column names as variables.

z|
# Enter: score >= 80

Result — only rows where score is 80 or above:

▶ web01    webserver   active    sg      90   ← selected
  web02    webserver   standby   sg      70
▶ db01     database    active    kl      85   ← selected
  cache01  cache       active    sg      60
  monitor01 monitoring standby   jk      50

Multiple conditions:

z|
# Enter: region == "sg" and score >= 80

Text contains:

z|
# Enter: "web" in hostname
# Selects web01, web02

Use z\ to unselect rows matching a Python expression.

For expression syntax details, see Filtering and Selection.

In-Place Alternative — fx

Space fx Enter filters rows in-place using the same Python expressions as z|, but hides non-matching rows directly instead of marking them. No need to press " afterwards. Restore the previous row view with Space fclear Enter. See Filtering.

Value Match Select (Comma Keys)

The comma (,) key selects rows based on the current cell's value — without typing anything.

Key	Compares against	Scope
,	Display value of current cell	Current column only
g,	All visible columns of current row	All visible columns
z,	Typed/stored value (not formatted display)	Current column only

# Move cursor to a cell containing 'sg'
,
# All rows where region = 'sg' are selected instantly

# Use z, when display and stored values differ (currency, dates)

Quick Reference

Key	Action
s	Select current row
u	Unselect current row
t	Toggle selection
gs / gu / gt	Select / unselect / toggle all
|	Select rows matching regex in current column
\\	Unselect rows matching regex
g|	Select rows matching regex in any column
g\\	Unselect rows matching regex in any column
z|	Select rows matching Python expression
z\\	Unselect rows matching Python expression
,	Select rows matching current cell value
g,	Select rows matching current row in all columns
z,	Select rows matching stored cell value
{ / }	Jump to previous / next selected row
Space → fk → Enter	Filter in-place by keyword (custom, see Filtering)
Space → fx → Enter	Filter in-place by Python expression (custom, see Filtering)
Space → fclear → Enter	Restore previous in-place filter view

What's Next

• Sorting and Reordering — sort, multi-column sort, move rows
• Filtering — open filtered sheets from selections, Excel filter equivalents