How do I quickly see what is stored in all of Vim's registers at once?

Explanation

:registers (or its short form :reg) displays the contents of all non-empty registers in a single view. Each register is shown with its name and current value, letting you inspect what is available for pasting, macro replay, or expression use.

How it works

:reg

Output (example):

Type Name Content
  l  ""   hello world
  l  "0   hello world
  l  "1   deleted line
  l  "-   x
  l  "a   macro content
  l  "+   clipboard text
  l  "/   search pattern
  l  ":   last ex command
  l  "%   filename.py

Filtering registers

• :reg a b c — show only registers a, b, and c
• :reg 0 1 2 — show only numbered registers 0–2
• :reg + — show just the system clipboard

Register types shown

Tips

• Use :reg before pasting to verify you are pasting the right content — avoid the "wrong register" surprise
• Registers that contain macro keystrokes show the raw key sequence — useful for debugging macros
• In Insert mode, <C-r>{reg} pastes a register; check with :reg first to pick the right one
• Empty registers are hidden from the output — if a register does not appear, it has no content