How do I see what keystrokes a macro contains?

Explanation

The :reg a command shows the contents of register a, which reveals the keystrokes stored in the macro. This helps you understand and debug macros.

How it works

• :reg a displays register a's contents
• Special keys appear as control characters (e.g., ^[ for Escape)
• :reg without arguments shows all registers

Example

:reg a
--- Registers ---
"a   I//<Esc>j

This shows macro a contains: enter insert mode, type //, escape, move down.

Tips

• ^[ represents <Esc>
• ^M represents <CR> (Enter)
• ^R represents <C-r>
• Use this to verify a macro before running it many times
• You can then edit the macro with "ap, modify, "add