How do I record and replay a macro in Vim?

Explanation

Macros let you record a sequence of commands and replay them. Press qa to start recording into register a, perform your edits, press q to stop, then @a to replay.

How it works

• qa starts recording all keystrokes into register a
• Perform any sequence of Vim commands
• q stops recording
• @a replays the recorded macro
• @@ repeats the last played macro

Example

To wrap each line in quotes:

1. qa — start recording
2. I" — insert " at the beginning of the line
3. A" — append " at the end
4. j — move to the next line
5. q — stop recording
6. 5@a — replay 5 times for the next 5 lines

Tips

• Use any register a through z — you can have 26 macros stored at once
• Prefix with a count: 100@a replays the macro 100 times
• Edit a macro by pasting the register ("ap), modifying the text, and yanking it back ("ayy)
• Recursive macros: qA appends to an existing macro in register a