What are the useful flags for the substitute command?

Explanation

The substitute command supports several flags that modify its behavior. Understanding them lets you use :s precisely.

How it works

• g — replace all occurrences on the line (not just the first)
• c — confirm each replacement
• i — case-insensitive match
• I — case-sensitive match
• n — count matches without replacing
• e — suppress errors when pattern is not found

Example

:%s/old/new/g     " Replace all occurrences
:%s/old/new/gc    " Confirm each replacement
:%s/old/new/gi    " Replace all, case-insensitive
:%s/old/new/gce   " Confirm, no error if not found

Tips

• e is essential in :bufdo and :argdo scripts
• c prompt options: y/n/a (all)/q (quit)/l (last)
• & repeats flags from the last substitute
• Flags can be combined in any order
• Without g, only the first match per line is replaced