How do I set options that only apply to certain file types?

Explanation

Using autocmd FileType with setlocal, you can configure settings that only apply when editing files of a specific type.

How it works

• autocmd FileType python setlocal tabstop=4 applies only to Python files
• setlocal makes the setting buffer-local
• The autocommand fires when the file type is detected

Example

autocmd FileType python setlocal tabstop=4 shiftwidth=4 expandtab
autocmd FileType go setlocal tabstop=4 noexpandtab
autocmd FileType javascript setlocal shiftwidth=2
autocmd FileType html setlocal shiftwidth=2

Tips

• Wrap in augroup to prevent duplicates
• Alternatively, use ftplugin files: ~/.vim/ftplugin/python.vim
• :setlocal only affects the current buffer
• :filetype plugin indent on enables the built-in filetype system
• Check filetype with :set filetype?