How do I interactively browse and set all Vim options in a single window?

Explanation

:options opens a special Vim buffer that lists every available option, grouped by category (appearance, editing, search, etc.), with a brief description of each one. You can navigate the buffer normally and change option values inline — placing the cursor on a value and pressing <CR> edits it or toggles it, making it ideal for discovering and experimenting with settings without memorizing :help pages.

How it works

• :options — open the options window
• Options are grouped into sections like Terminal, Message, Editing, Search, Tags
• Each option shows its current value and a one-line description
• Navigate with normal motion commands (j/k, <C-d>, / to search within the buffer)
• Press <CR> on a string or number option to edit its value
• Toggle boolean options by pressing <CR> on the option line

Example

:options

  1 terminal
...
  4 displaying text
'wrap'          wrap long lines
  currently: wrap
'number'        show line number in front of each line
  currently: nonumber
...

To turn on number, navigate to it and press <CR>.

Tips

• Use / to search for a specific option by name within the buffer
• Changes made in :options take effect immediately but are not saved to your vimrc
• To make a change permanent, add :set {option} to your ~/.vimrc
• Related: :set all prints all option values without descriptions; :options is more readable