Search Vim Tricks
Searching...:execute 'vimgrep /' . @/ . '/gj **/*'
If you already refined a search interactively with / or ?, retyping that pattern for project-wide grep is repetitive and error-prone.
:psearch /pattern/
When you need quick context from another file but do not want to disturb your current editing window, :psearch gives you a clean workflow.
buffers-windows #buffers #windows #preview-window #search #navigation
:setlocal errorformat=%f:%l:%c:%m | cexpr system('tool %') | copen
Not every linter or internal script speaks Vim quickfix format out of the box.
command-line #command-line #quickfix #errorformat #linting #workflow
:set viewoptions=folds,cursor,slash,unix
mkview and loadview are great for restoring editing context, but the default viewoptions can bring back more state than you actually want.
:packadd cfilter | Lfilter /pattern/
When you already have a populated location list, rerunning the original search just to focus on a subset is slow and disruptive.
:set switchbuf+=uselast
When jumps open the target buffer in an unexpected split, context switching gets expensive.
:packadd justify | :'<,'>Justify 72
Vim can wrap text, but full left-and-right justification is a different task.
plugins #plugins #formatting #visual-mode #text-manipulation
:g/^\s*$/,/./-1join
When text is hard-wrapped (for example from email, logs, or copied docs), joining entire paragraphs manually is slow and error-prone.
editing #editing #formatting #ex-commands #text-manipulation
:command! -nargs=* -complete=file W w <args>
When you repeatedly type a long Ex command with filenames, define a user command that keeps the behavior but shortens the keystrokes.
command-line #command-line #ex-commands #completion #workflow
:set mousemodel=extend
If you use the mouse occasionally in Vim, mousemodel=extend makes selection behavior much more predictable.
:lgrep /pattern/ % | lopen
Quickfix is global, but sometimes you want a narrower search workspace tied to one window.
:cdo s/foo/bar/ge | update
When quickfix already contains exactly the lines you want to touch, :cdo is the safest way to batch-edit with tight scope.
command-line #command-line #quickfix #substitution #refactoring
:let @q .= 'j'
Re-recording a long macro just to add one extra keystroke is wasteful and error-prone.
:let @/ = '\V' . escape(@0, '\')
When the text you yank contains regex characters, a normal / search can produce noisy or surprising matches.
:%s/pattern/replacement/gn
When you are about to run a broad substitution, it is often safer to measure impact first.
command-line #command-line #ex-commands #substitution #search
:leftabove sbuffer #
If you often compare your current file against the previously visited buffer, replacing the current window is disruptive.
:%s/\v^([^,]+),([^,]+),/\2,\1,/<CR>
When CSV-like data has two columns in the wrong order, manually fixing each line is slow and error-prone.
/\v<(TODO|FIXME|BUG)>
When you triage code, jumping among TODO, FIXME, and BUG markers quickly is often more useful than searching each token separately.
:let @q = substitute(@q, 'foo', 'bar', 'g')
Recorded macros are plain text stored in registers, which means you can refactor them instead of re-recording from scratch.
:call histdel(':', -1)
When you run sensitive or noisy Ex commands, they stay in command history and can be recalled accidentally.
