Search Vim Tricks
Searching...:g/pattern/m $
The :g (global) command combined with :m (move) lets you collect all lines matching a pattern and relocate them to a specific position in the file.
command-line #ex-commands #editing #global #search #formatting
:%Subvert/old{,s}/new{,s}/g
Tim Pope's vim-abolish plugin provides the :Subvert command (aliased as :S), which performs substitutions that automatically preserve case variants and handle p
plugins #plugins #substitution #editing #ex-commands #search
:let @+ = @"
Vim's :let @{reg} syntax lets you read from one register and write to another.
:filter /pattern/ command
The :filter command restricts the output of another Ex command to only lines matching a given pattern.
o (in Visual mode)
When you make a Visual selection in Vim, the cursor sits at one end while the other end is anchored.
K
Pressing K in normal mode runs a lookup program on the word under the cursor.
navigation #navigation #help #documentation #normal-mode #keywordprg
"1p then u then . to cycle
Vim stores your last 9 deletions in numbered registers "1 through "9.
:ptag function_name
The :ptag command opens a tag definition in a small preview window at the top of the screen, letting you read the definition without losing your place in the cu
buffers-windows #buffers #windows #tags #preview #navigation
:autocmd WinResized * wincmd =
When you resize your terminal window, Vim's split layout can become unbalanced.
:set winfixheight
When you have a specific window you want to keep at a fixed size — like a terminal, log viewer, or reference file — winfixheight and winfixwidth prevent Vim
:lua vim.api.nvim_open_win(0, true, {relative='editor', width=80, height=20, row=5, col=10})
Neovim's floating windows hover above the main layout, creating popup-like UI elements.
<C-w>z or :pclose
The preview window shows file contents temporarily without switching your editing context.
buffers-windows #buffers-windows #quickfix #preview #navigation
<C-w>R
Vim provides commands to rotate windows within a row or column, and to swap the current window with another.
v3aw
In visual mode, repeating text object motions progressively expands the selection.
>gv
Normally, pressing > in visual mode indents the selection but exits visual mode, requiring you to press gv to reselect.
"ayv
Using named registers with visual mode lets you store multiple independent snippets simultaneously.
:set inccommand=split
Neovim's inccommand option provides real-time visual feedback as you type substitution commands.
<C-v>jjr<C-k>12
Visual block mode combined with the replace command and digraph input lets you replace a column of characters with special Unicode characters.
:'<,'>!awk '{print toupper($0)}'
Vim can pipe any visual selection through external Unix commands and replace the selection with the output.
visual-mode #visual-mode #external-command #awk #text-transformation
:'<,'>retab!
The :retab! command converts between tabs and spaces based on your expandtab setting.
