How to copy and paste columns Notepad++?

Question

I'm having some issues with Notepad++ at the time of copy (cut) columns into the same document.

For example I have this:

And I need this:

But at the moment I use Alt+Shift and arrow keys to copy the first column and paste it at the end I get this:

So I'm not sure if there is an issue with blank spaces or something like that, This document is 14mil lines so I can't do it manually...

If there is a solution with other software rather than Notepad++ I'm willing to hear proposals.

Answer 1

This can be done by using the text replacement dialog (Ctrl+H).

Find what: :(\d*) (.*)
Replace with: \2:\1
Check: "Regular expression"
Click "Replace All".

Explanation:

• (\d*) : first group consists of digits
• (.*) : second group contains any character
• \2:\1 : second group, followed by colon, then by the first group

I assumed that a blank follows the first group. If it's rather a tab character, replace the Find string with :(\d*)\t(.*).