How do I persistently highlight specific patterns with custom colors in Vim?
:call matchadd('Search', 'pattern')
The matchadd() function lets you add persistent highlights to patterns without affecting the search register.
Category: search
How do I search across files using the location list instead of quickfix?
:lvimgrep /pattern/ %
While :vimgrep populates the global quickfix list, :lvimgrep uses the window-local location list instead.
How do I visually hide or conceal matched text in Vim?
:syntax match Conceal /pattern/ conceal
Vim's conceal feature lets you visually hide text that matches a pattern, or replace it with a single character.
How do I do a case-preserving search and replace in Vim?
:%s/\v(old)/\=toupper(submatch(0)[0]).tolower(submatch(0)[1:])/g
Standard substitutions don't preserve the original case of matched text.
How do I open the command-line window while typing a command on the : prompt?
<C-f> (from command-line mode)
When you are partway through typing a long or complex Ex command on the : prompt, you can press to open the command-line window.
How do I match only part of a search pattern in Vim using \zs and \ze?
/\(function\s\+\)\zs\w\+
Vim's \zs and \ze atoms let you control which part of a matched pattern gets highlighted and operated on.
How do I match only part of a search pattern for highlighting or substitution?
/\zs and \ze
The \zs and \ze atoms let you define where the actual match starts and ends within a larger pattern.
How do I search for a second pattern relative to where the first one matched?
/pattern1/;/pattern2/
Vim's search offsets allow chaining two patterns together with a semicolon.
How do I force a search to be case-sensitive regardless of the ignorecase setting?
/\Cpattern
Vim's ignorecase and smartcase settings change how all searches behave globally.
How do I search across all of Vim's help documentation for a keyword or phrase?
:helpgrep {pattern}
:helpgrep searches the full text of every Vim help file for a pattern and loads all matches into the quickfix list.
How do I reuse the last search pattern without retyping it in Vim?
//
In Vim, pressing // (two forward slashes) in Normal mode repeats the last search pattern.
How do I clear search highlights without disabling hlsearch permanently?
:nohlsearch
After a search in Vim, matched text is highlighted as long as hlsearch is enabled.
How do I search for a pattern only within a specific range of lines in Vim?
:/start/,/end/s/pattern/replacement/g
You can restrict a substitution to a range defined by two patterns.
How do I change the case of matched text in a Vim substitute command?
\u and \l in :s replacement
Vim's substitute command supports special case modifiers in the replacement string that let you change the case of captured text on the fly.
How do you use lookbehind in Vim search patterns?
/\(foo\)\@<=bar
Use \@<= for positive lookbehind.
How do you replace text with a newline in Vim?
:%s/; /;\r/g
In the replacement part, use \r to insert a newline.
How do you use a function in the replacement of a substitution?
:%s/\d\+/\=submatch(0)*2/g
Use \= to evaluate expressions.
How do you search for a literal string without regex interpretation?
/\Vexact.string
Prefix with \V for very nomagic mode where almost all characters are treated literally.
How do I search with vimgrep only in specific file types?
:vimgrep /pattern/ **/*.py
By specifying a file glob pattern with :vimgrep, you can restrict the search to specific file types.
How do I use non-greedy (lazy) matching in Vim regex?
/pattern\{-}
The \{-} quantifier in Vim regex matches as few characters as possible, unlike which matches as many as possible (greedy).