How do I delete all lines matching my last search pattern without retyping it?

Explanation

:g//d uses an empty pattern in the global command, which instructs Vim to reuse the last search pattern. This creates a natural two-step workflow: search first to visually verify what will be deleted, then run :g//d to act on those same matches without retyping anything.

How it works

• :g/pattern/d deletes all lines matching pattern
• When the pattern is empty (:g//d), Vim substitutes the last search pattern used by /, ?, *, #, or :s
• The same empty-pattern rule applies to :s//replacement/g, :v//d, :g//y A, and others

Example

Suppose you want to delete all debug logging lines:

1. Search to verify:   /console\.log
2. Review the highlighted matches in the buffer
3. Delete them all:    :g//d

Compare to the naive approach where you must type the pattern twice:

/console\.log
:g/console\.log/d

Tips

• :v//d (or :g!//d) deletes all lines that do not match the last pattern — useful for keeping only matches
• :g//y A collects all matching lines into register a (append)
• :g//t$ copies all matching lines to the end of the file
• After deletion, use :noh to clear search highlights while preserving the pattern in @/
• Works after any search: *, #, n, or an explicit /pattern