How do I reuse my last search pattern literally in :substitute without re-escaping it?
:%s/\V<C-r>//gc
When your last search pattern contains punctuation, slashes, or regex atoms, retyping it inside :substitute is error-prone.
Category: command-line
How do I strip trailing whitespace without clobbering my last search pattern?
:keeppatterns %s/\s\+$//e
Bulk cleanup commands often damage your navigation flow by overwriting the last search pattern (@/).
command-line #command-line #search #substitution #whitespace
How do I inspect only Ex command history so I can quickly rerun a complex command?
:history :
When you work with long substitution pipelines or multi-part Ex commands, digging through all history (:history) adds noise.
How do I reindent the whole buffer without adding jumplist entries?
:keepjumps normal! gg=G<CR>
Whole-buffer reindent is common, but doing it naively can pollute your jumplist and break navigation flow during review.
How do I delete all lines between two delimiter patterns without removing the delimiters themselves?
:g/BEGIN/+1,/END/-1 delete
By combining the :global command with a relative address range, you can delete the content between repeating delimiter pairs while leaving the delimiters intact
How do I define a multi-line string in Vimscript without concatenation or escape sequences?
let {var} =<< {marker}
Vim 8.
How do I handle errors gracefully in Vimscript using try-catch blocks?
:try / :catch / :endtry
Vimscript has a structured exception handling system using :try, :catch, :finally, and :endtry.
How do I run a find-and-replace across multiple files at once using the argument list?
:args **/*.py | argdo %s/old/new/ge | update
Combining :args, :argdo, and :update gives you a powerful in-editor multi-file search and replace without leaving Vim.
How do I send a range of lines as stdin to a shell command without modifying the buffer?
:[range]w !{cmd}
The :[range]w !{cmd} command writes a range of lines to the standard input of a shell command, leaving the buffer completely unchanged.
How do I open a URL or file from Neovim using the system's default application?
vim.ui.open()
vim.
How do I evaluate and pretty-print a Lua expression from the Neovim command line without writing print(vim.inspect(...))?
:lua = {expression}
In Neovim, :lua = expr is a shorthand that evaluates a Lua expression and pretty-prints the result using vim.
How do I run a targeted health check for a specific Neovim plugin or module to diagnose issues?
:checkhealth {module}
:checkhealth {module} runs the health check only for the specified module, making it much faster than the full :checkhealth which interrogates every registered
command-line #neovim #diagnostics #debugging #plugins #health
How do I run a global command only on lines that match two different patterns simultaneously?
:g/pattern1/g/pattern2/command
Vim's :g command can be nested — the command part of one :g can itself be another :g.
How do I open a file in Vim without triggering any autocmds for faster loading?
:noautocmd e {file}
When you have heavy autocmds registered for BufRead, BufEnter, or FileType events — such as LSP clients, formatters, or syntax processors — opening a large
command-line #command-line #ex-commands #buffers-windows #config
How do I save the current buffer to a different filename and continue editing under the new name?
:saveas {newname}
:saveas saves the buffer to a new file and redirects all future :w commands to write to that new filename — making it the true "Save As" command in Vim.
How do I define a custom Ex command that can accept a line range or count like built-in Vim commands?
:command -range {Name} ...
Custom Ex commands defined with :command -range can be called with a line range (e.
How do I insert all command-line completion matches at once without pressing Tab repeatedly?
<C-a> (command-line)
Pressing on the command line expands all current completion matches into the command at once, rather than cycling through them one at a time with .
How do I safely pass a Vim variable or the word under the cursor as an argument to a shell command?
shellescape({expr})
The shellescape() function wraps a string in shell-safe quoting, escaping any special characters so it can be embedded in a shell command constructed with :exec
command-line #ex-commands #command-line #editing #normal-mode
How do I delete consecutive duplicate lines from a file using a single Ex command?
:g/\(.\+\)\n\1/d
The :g command with a backreference pattern can detect and delete consecutive duplicate lines in one pass.
How do I delete each line matching a pattern along with a fixed number of lines that follow it?
:g/pattern/.,+2d
Inside a :global command, .
command-line #ex-commands #global #delete #editing #command-line