How do I use % to jump between angle brackets in HTML or XML files?

Explanation

By default, the % command jumps between (), {}, and [] pairs. It does not recognize <> angle brackets, which means % won't jump between HTML/XML tags or template syntax. Adding <:> to the matchpairs option extends % to work with angle brackets too.

How it works

• :set matchpairs+=<:> — adds angle brackets as a recognized pair for %
• Place the cursor on a < or > character and press % to jump to its match
• This works in normal mode and can be combined with operators like d%, c%, and y%

The matchpairs option takes a comma-separated list of open:close character pairs. The default value is (:),{:},[:].

Example

With the cursor on the opening < of an HTML tag:

<div class="container">
  █ cursor here
</div>

Pressing % on < jumps to the matching > on the same tag. Pressing % again jumps back.

<div class="container█">
  content
</div>

Tips

• Set this per filetype: autocmd FileType html,xml,eruby setlocal matchpairs+=<:>
• This only matches single < and > characters, not full tag pairs — for full tag matching, use the built-in matchit plugin with %
• Useful for navigating C++ templates, Rust generics, and other languages that use angle brackets