How do I sort lines and remove duplicates in one command?
:sort u
The :sort u command sorts all lines in the buffer (or a selected range) alphabetically and removes duplicate lines in a single pass.
Search: n N
415 results for "n N"
How do I indent a line in Vim?
>>
The >> command shifts the current line one shiftwidth to the right, adding indentation.
How do I navigate undo branches to recover changes that were overwritten by a new edit?
g- / g+
Vim doesn't have a simple linear undo stack — it maintains a full undo tree with branches.
editing #editing #undo-redo #normal-mode #advanced #productivity
How do I delete all blank and whitespace-only lines from a file in Vim?
:g/^\s*$/d
The global command :g/^\s$/d removes every line that is empty or contains only whitespace — a common cleanup task when tidying up code, configuration files, o
How do I find which plugin or script defined a specific mapping?
:verbose nmap <leader>
The :verbose prefix on mapping commands shows not just the mapping definition but also the file and line number where it was defined.
How do I progressively expand or contract a visual selection by text objects?
v3aw
In visual mode, repeating text object motions progressively expands the selection.
How do I control automatic text wrapping and comment formatting in Vim?
:set formatoptions+=cro
The formatoptions setting controls how Vim automatically formats text as you type — including comment continuation, auto-wrapping, and paragraph formatting.
How do I convert a register's type between characterwise and linewise?
:call setreg('a', @a, 'l')
Registers in Vim have a type — characterwise, linewise, or blockwise — that affects how their contents are pasted.
How do I replace matches one-by-one using cgn and dot-repeat?
*cgn
Global substitution is fast, but sometimes you need selective control over each occurrence.
How do I jump directly to the first or last entry in the quickfix list?
:cfirst and :clast
:cfirst and :clast jump directly to the first or last entry in the quickfix list, skipping all intermediate results.
How do I uppercase only the current search match using gn as a motion?
*NgUgn
gn is often treated as a visual selection command, but it is more powerful when used as a motion target for operators.
How do I use a Vimscript expression as the replacement in a substitute command?
:%s/pattern/\=expr/g
Prefixing the replacement field of :s with \= tells Vim to evaluate the rest as a Vimscript expression and use its result as the replacement string.
How do I join every line matching a pattern with the line that follows it?
:g/pattern/join
The :g/pattern/join command combines the :global command with :join to merge every line matching a pattern with the line immediately following it.
command-line #ex-commands #editing #command-line #search #normal-mode
How do I see where a normal-mode mapping was last defined in Vim?
:verbose nmap <lhs>
When key behavior is inconsistent, the root cause is usually mapping precedence.
command-line #command-line #mappings #debugging #config #normal-mode
How do I move the cursor just after each search match instead of at match start?
/pattern/e+1<CR>
Most Vim searches place the cursor at the start of the match.
How do I write a Vim regex that matches across multiple lines?
\_.\+
By default, .
How do I sort lines within a visual selection in reverse alphabetical order?
:'<,'>sort!
The sort! command sorts the selected lines in reverse (descending) order.
How do I run one substitution in nomagic mode so most regex characters are literal?
:snomagic /foo.\+/bar/<CR>
When a pattern is mostly literal text with just a little regex, default magic mode can force extra escaping and make substitutions harder to read.
How do I search non-greedily across multiple lines between two markers?
/\vstart\_.{-}end
Multiline searches in Vim often overmatch because .
How do I hide noisy completion messages in Vim's command line?
:set shortmess+=c
Insert-mode completion can spam the command line with status text like "match 1 of N" and related prompts.
config #config #completion #command-line #options #insert-mode