How do I access Vim's built-in help system?
:help topic
Vim has an extensive built-in help system.
Search: :help
170 results for ":help"
How do I open Vim help pages in a new tab instead of a split?
:tab help
By default, :help opens in a horizontal split, which can feel cramped.
How do I make the K key look up words in Vim's own help instead of the man page?
:set keywordprg=:help
By default, pressing K in Normal mode runs the word under the cursor through an external program — usually man.
How do I regenerate help tags for every installed plugin in one command?
:helptags ALL
Plugin help can break after manual installs, local plugin development, or branch switches that add/remove docs.
How does which-key help discover key mappings?
require('which-key').setup()
which-key.
How do I search across all Vim help files for a keyword or phrase?
:helpgrep
:helpgrep {pattern} searches all installed Vim help files for a pattern and populates the quickfix list with every match.
How do I search across all of Vim's help documentation for a keyword or phrase?
:helpgrep {pattern}
:helpgrep searches the full text of every Vim help file for a pattern and loads all matches into the quickfix list.
How do I understand which register Vim uses for each operation?
:help registers
Vim has 10 types of registers, each serving a specific purpose.
How do I list all buffers including unlisted ones like help pages and terminal buffers?
:ls!
:ls (or :buffers) shows Vim's buffer list, but it hides unlisted buffers — help files, directory listings (netrw), terminal buffers, and scratch buffers marke
How do I highlight the entire column under the cursor to help with aligning data?
:set cursorcolumn
:set cursorcolumn (or the short form set cuc) highlights the entire vertical column where the cursor sits, painting a visible strip from top to bottom of the wi
How do I look up documentation for the keyword under the cursor?
K
Pressing K in normal mode runs a lookup program on the word under the cursor.
navigation #navigation #help #documentation #normal-mode #keywordprg
How do I force any window-opening command to create a vertical split instead of horizontal?
:vertical {cmd}
The :vertical command modifier forces any window-opening Ex command to create a vertical split instead of the default horizontal split.
buffers-windows #windows #buffers #command-line #splits #ex-commands
How do I make the K key look up documentation in a language-specific tool instead of man pages?
:set keywordprg
The K key in normal mode looks up the word under the cursor using the program defined by keywordprg.
How do I open any split command's result in a new tab instead of a split window?
:tab {cmd}
Most commands that open a new window (:help, :split, :new, :terminal) open a horizontal split by default.
How do I force any split command to open as a vertical split in Vim?
:vert {cmd}
Vim's :vertical modifier (abbreviated :vert) can be prepended to any Ex command that opens a split window to make it open as a vertical split instead of a horiz
buffers-windows #buffers-windows #windows #splits #ex-commands
How do I center, right-justify, or left-justify lines of text in Vim without a plugin?
:'<,'>center / :'<,'>right / :'<,'>left
Vim has built-in Ex commands to align text within a specified width: :center, :right, and :left.
How do I save only real file buffers when running bufdo across many open buffers?
:bufdo if &buftype ==# '' | update | endif
bufdo is powerful for multi-buffer automation, but a naive write pass can error on special buffers (help, terminal, quickfix, prompts).
buffers-windows #buffers #windows #ex-commands #automation #workflow
How do I set a different statusline for a specific buffer or window?
:setlocal statusline=%f\ %m\ %y\ [%l/%L]
The :setlocal statusline command lets you override the global statusline for a specific window.
How do I set up filetype-specific documentation lookup for the K key in Vim?
:autocmd FileType python setlocal keywordprg=pydoc3
The K command looks up the word under the cursor using the program defined by keywordprg (default: man).
How do I fuzzy-search and run any available Vim command using fzf.vim?
:Commands
fzf.