How do I jump to the start or end of the text I just yanked or changed?

Explanation

Vim automatically sets two marks whenever you yank, change, delete, or paste text: `[ (backtick-bracket) marks the start of the affected region, and `] marks the end. Using '[ and '] (single-quote variants) jump to the first column of those lines. These marks persist until the next operation that sets them.

How it works

• `[ — jump to the exact position of the first character of the last changed/yanked text
• `] — jump to the exact position of the last character of the last changed/yanked text
• '[ / '] — line-level versions (jump to line start, like any 'mark)

The marks are set by: y (yank), d (delete), c (change), p/P (put), and : commands that modify the buffer.

Example

You yank a multi-line block with yip (yank inner paragraph). You navigate away and do other edits. Later:

`[      " jump back to first char of what you yanked
`]      " jump to last char of what you yanked

A powerful pattern — re-select the last yanked region and operate on it:

`[v`]   " visually select exactly the text you yanked

Or apply an operator to the yanked region directly:

`[=`]   " re-indent whatever you just yanked (great after pasting)

Tips

• After pasting with p, use `[=`] to immediately re-indent the pasted block to match surrounding code
• :help '[ shows all the automatic marks Vim maintains, including '< and '> for the last visual selection