How do I delete all blocks of text between two patterns throughout a file?

Explanation

The :g (global) command can operate on ranges, not just single lines. By specifying a range from one pattern to another, you can delete entire blocks of text that span multiple lines. This is a powerful technique for removing HTML sections, code blocks, log entries, or any structured content that has consistent start and end markers.

How it works

• :g/start/ — matches every line containing "start"
• ,/end/ — extends the range from each match to the next line containing "end"
• d — deletes the entire range (both marker lines and everything between them)
• Vim processes matches from top to bottom, adjusting line numbers as deletions occur

Example

Before:

keep this line
<!-- BEGIN GENERATED -->
generated content 1
generated content 2
<!-- END GENERATED -->
keep this too
<!-- BEGIN GENERATED -->
more generated stuff
<!-- END GENERATED -->
final line

After :g/BEGIN GENERATED/,/END GENERATED/d:

keep this line
keep this too
final line

Tips

• Use :g/start/,/end/s/old/new/g to substitute only within matched ranges
• Use :v/start/,/end/d to delete everything outside the matched ranges
• Replace d with fold to fold matched ranges: :g/start/,/end/fold
• Use j instead of d to join the range into a single line