How do I use PCRE-style regex in Vim without escaping every special character?
\v
Vim's default regex mode ("magic") requires backslashes before many special characters: \(, \ , \+, \{.
Search: /pattern
640 results for "/pattern"
How do I use search patterns to define the start and end of an Ex command range?
:/pattern1/,/pattern2/
Ex command ranges in Vim are not limited to line numbers and marks — you can use /pattern/ as a range boundary to select lines between any two matching patter
How do I quickly replace all occurrences of the word under my cursor?
* then :%s//new/g
Pressing searches for the word under the cursor, which also loads it into the search register.
How do I sort lines based on a specific field or column rather than the beginning of each line?
:sort /regex/
The :sort /pattern/ command sorts lines by the text that appears after the first match of a pattern, not from the start of each line.
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 perform a substitute only within a visual block column?
:'<,'>s/\%Vpattern/replacement/g
Using \%V in a substitute pattern restricts matching to within the visual block area only, rather than the full lines.
How do I use an atomic group in a Vim regex to prevent backtracking?
\@>
Vim's \@> syntax creates an atomic group in a regular expression.
How do I use capture groups in a Vim search and replace?
:%s/\(group\)/\1/g
Capture groups in Vim substitute let you match parts of a pattern and reuse them in the replacement.
What is the difference between \n and \r in Vim search patterns versus substitution replacements?
\n in search, \r in replacement
Vim uses \n and \r differently depending on whether they appear in a search pattern or a replacement string, and mixing them up is a common source of confusion.
How do I handle errors gracefully in Vimscript using try-catch blocks?
:try / :catch / :endtry
Vimscript has a structured exception handling system using :try, :catch, :finally, and :endtry.
How do I override ignorecase or smartcase for a single search without changing my settings?
/\cfoo
Vim's \c and \C flags let you force a search to be case-insensitive or case-sensitive on a per-search basis, regardless of your ignorecase and smartcase setting
How do I search forward but place the cursor at the end of the match?
/TODO/e
Most users know /pattern, but fewer use search offsets to control where the cursor lands after the match.
How do I search only the message part of TODO comments using match boundaries?
/\vTODO:\s*\zs.{-}\ze\s*($|#)
When TODO comments include prefixes, owners, or trailing metadata, a plain search often lands on the wrong part of the line.
How do I search case-insensitively in Vim without changing global settings?
/\cpattern
How it works By default, Vim searches are case-sensitive: /Hello will not match hello or HELLO.
How do I extract regex capture groups from a string in Vimscript?
matchlist()
matchlist({str}, {pattern}) runs a regex match and returns a list of all captured groups, making it the idiomatic way to extract structured data from strings in
How do I register custom filetype detection rules in Neovim using Lua without editing filetype.vim?
vim.filetype.add()
vim.
How do I use search patterns as line ranges in Ex commands to operate on a block of text?
:/start/,/end/d
Instead of specifying line numbers for Ex command ranges, you can use search patterns.
command-line #ex-commands #editing #search #ranges #command-line
How do I search or substitute only within specific columns of text in Vim?
\%>20c
The \%Nc, \%>Nc, and \%20c — match only after column 20 (i.
How do I browse and reuse my previous search patterns in Vim?
q/
How it works Vim keeps a history of all your search patterns.
How do I duplicate every non-blank line in a buffer with one Ex command?
:g/./t.\<CR>
The :global command can apply an Ex action to every line that matches a pattern.