Notepad++ How do I insert a column of data?

So I am trying to take a column of text data and replace that data with edited information. I am trying to manipulate values in a fixed width file. I want to leave the rows intact. I know I can hold ALT and select a whole column of information but when I try to paste into the selected area Notepad++ just adds the information above the first row and deletes the column Ive selected. Please help, I have been researching for a while now and cant find anything on this.

Below I will try to explain a bit better, if I were to select the asterisks using Alt+mouse and I have a column of data that I have copied from another file how could I replace the asterisks but leave the other data intact?

1111122222**22233333333333

1111122222**22222223333333

1111111122**22222223333333

Solution 1:

If I understand the question correctly, you have copied the column of data from somewhere else and want to copy it as a column into notepad++. If you simply select a column in your notepad++ document and try to replace it with the external column, you will get many copies of that column. The trick is to first paste your column into an empty document (or into new lines in an existing document), then select that column you just pasted in but make sure you select it in column mode, i.e., while holding down the Alt key, and then copy it with Ctrl-C. Now you can column-select the column you want to replace and copy in your copied column with Ctrl-V

Solution 2:

You can use ALT + Mouse to select the columns to copy the data and replace it. This animated gif is self explanatory.