How do I increment and decrement hexadecimal numbers with Ctrl-A in Vim?

Q: How do I increment and decrement hexadecimal numbers with Ctrl-A in Vim?

`:set nrformats+=hex` Vim's ` ` and ` ` commands increment and decrement the number under the cursor. By default, `nrformats` includes `bin` (binary) and `octal` but **not** `hex`. Adding `hex` to `nrformats` lets Vim recognise `0x`-prefixed values and increment them as hexadecimal. ## How it works - `nrformats` is a comma-separated list telling Vim which numeric formats to recognise for ` ` / ` ` - Default value: `bin,octal` (or `bin,octal,unsigned` in newer versions) - Adding `hex` enables recognition of `0x…` and `0X…` literals Add to your `vimrc` to make it permanent: ```vim set nrformats+=hex ``` ## Example With the cursor on `0x1f`: ```text before: 0x1f ``` Press ` ` once: ```text after: 0x20 ``` Press ` ` to decrement back: ```text after: 0x1f ``` Case is preserved: `0xFF` increments to `0x100`. ## Tips - To remove octal recognition (so `007` is not treated as octal and accidentally jumps to `010`), use `:set nrformats-=octal` - Combine with ` ` in Visual block mode (`g `) to increment multiple hex values sequentially — useful when patching memory addresses or colour codes - `nrformats=alpha` also lets you increment letters (`a` → `b`), though that is a separate feature

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`:set nrformats+=hex` Vim's `` and `` commands increment and decrement the number under the cursor. By default, `nrformats` includes `bin` (binary) and `octal` but **not** `hex`. Adding `hex` to `nrformats` lets Vim recognise `0x`-prefixed values and increment them as hexadecimal. ## How it works - `nrformats` is a comma-separated list telling Vim which numeric formats to recognise for `` / `` - Default value: `bin,octal` (or `bin,octal,unsigned` in newer versions) - Adding `hex` enables recognition of `0x…` and `0X…` literals Add to your `vimrc` to make it permanent: ```vim set nrformats+=hex ``` ## Example With the cursor on `0x1f`: ```text before: 0x1f ``` Press `` once: ```text after: 0x20 ``` Press `` to decrement back: ```text after: 0x1f ``` Case is preserved: `0xFF` increments to `0x100`. ## Tips - To remove octal recognition (so `007` is not treated as octal and accidentally jumps to `010`), use `:set nrformats-=octal` - Combine with `` in Visual block mode (`g`) to increment multiple hex values sequentially — useful when patching memory addresses or colour codes - `nrformats=alpha` also lets you increment letters (`a` → `b`), though that is a separate feature

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