How do I change whether a register pastes as character, line, or block-wise?

Explanation

Vim registers carry not just their text content but also a type: charwise (c), linewise (l), or blockwise (b). This type controls how p and P paste the contents. Using setreg(), you can change a register's type after yanking — turning a charwise yank into a linewise paste without re-yanking.

How it works

• setreg(register, content, type) sets a register's value and type
• @" reads the current content of the unnamed register
• 'l' forces linewise mode; 'c' for charwise; 'b' for blockwise
• The third argument can also be 'b42' to specify column width for a block

Example

You yanked a word with yiw (charwise), but want to paste it on its own line:

:call setreg('"', @", 'l')

Now pressing p inserts the text on a new line below the cursor instead of inline.

Conversely, if you yanked a full line with yy (linewise) but want to paste it inline without the newline:

:call setreg('"', @", 'c')

Tips

• Use getregtype('"') to inspect the current type of a register before modifying it
• Works with any named register: setreg('a', @a, 'b') makes register a blockwise
• Combine with a mapping to toggle linewise/charwise on the fly before pasting
• In Neovim, vim.fn.setreg() exposes the same API from Lua