What is the difference between backtick and apostrophe when jumping to marks?

Explanation

Vim has two ways to jump to marks: backtick (`) jumps to the exact line AND column, while apostrophe (') jumps to the line only, positioning the cursor at the first non-blank character. This distinction matters for precise cursor positioning.

How it works

• `a — jump to mark a at the exact line and column where it was set
• 'a — jump to the line of mark a, cursor at first non-blank character
• This applies to all marks: named (a-z, A-Z), special (., <, >), etc.
• `0 jumps to exact position of last exit; '0 jumps to that line

Example

    hello world
           ^-- mark 'a' set here (line 1, col 12)

`a → cursor lands at col 12 (exact position)
'a → cursor lands at col 4 (first non-blank: 'h')

Tips

• `. jumps to the exact position of the last change — very useful
• `" jumps to the position when the file was last exited
• Use ` for code editing (exact position matters); ' for prose (line is enough)
• `[ and `] mark the start and end of the last changed/yanked text