How to select from line to line in vi?

I frequently want to select multiple lines in vi. e.g. from line 1 to line 10.

So, what I usually do when I want to jump from line to line is I type :110 to jump to line 110, e.g.

And, when I want to select from line to line, I usually press v to get into visual mode, and then I just scroll down using k or l.

So, intuitively it makes sense to me to just press v, and then type :<line number>. but that doesn't work.

How to select from line X to line Y in vi?

Let's assume you want to highlight from line 10 to line 20. You can use:

10GV20G

Breakdown:

• 10 enters 10 into the buffer
• G goes to the line number in the buffer
• V enters visual line mode
• 20 enters 20 into the buffer
• G goes to the line number in the buffer

Note that G means Shift+g (capital G).

You can use gg instead of G.

If you want to highlight 10 lines down relative to (and including) your current line, use V9j.

Source and a : command are here.