How do I paste a register's content in Insert mode without Vim adjusting the indentation?

Explanation

The standard <C-r>{reg} pastes register contents in Insert mode, but Vim may auto-indent multi-line text to match the current indentation level — sometimes mangling pasted code. <C-r><C-o>{reg} (Control-R, Control-O) inserts the register text literally and blockwise, exactly as stored, with no indentation or line-break adjustments.

How it works

• <C-r>{reg} — pastes register, subject to textwidth, autoindent, and other formatting options
• <C-r><C-o>{reg} — pastes register literally (no formatting), cursor stays in place
• <C-r><C-p>{reg} — pastes with indent correction applied (fixes indentation to match context)
• <C-r><C-r>{reg} — pastes with special characters interpreted (useful for registers containing Vim key sequences)

The <C-o> variant is most useful when pasting pre-indented multi-line code blocks from a named register or the clipboard.

Example

You have yanked a Python code block into register a:

def process(data):
    result = []
    for item in data:
        result.append(item)
    return result

Inside a deeply indented context, <C-r>a might add extra indentation. Use <C-r><C-o>a to paste the block exactly as yanked.

Tips

• For the unnamed register: <C-r><C-o>" — literal paste of the last yanked/deleted text
• For the system clipboard: <C-r><C-o>+ — literal paste from the + register
• When pasting from the system clipboard into a terminal Vim without bracketed paste mode, :set paste is the alternative to prevent cascading indentation issues
• In Neovim, <C-r><C-o> is the preferred method over :set paste (which Neovim discourages)