How do I uppercase or lowercase the entire current line in one keystroke?
gUU
The gUU command uppercases every character on the current line instantly — no visual selection or motion required.
Search: /pattern
640 results for "/pattern"
How do I append a semicolon to every non-blank line with one Vim command?
:g/[^[:space:]]/normal! A;\<CR>
When you need to patch many lines at once, :g with :normal! is often faster and safer than recording a macro.
command-line #command-line #ex-commands #editing #normal-mode
How do I configure Vim to use ripgrep as its built-in grep program?
:set grepprg=rg\ --vimgrep
Vim's :grep command uses an external program to search files and populate the quickfix list.
How do I use normal regex syntax in Vim search without escaping everything?
/\v
Vim's default regex syntax requires backslashes before most special characters like +, (, ), {, and , which is the opposite of what most developers expect from
How do I run a substitution across the arglist and write only modified files?
:argdo %s/foo/bar/ge | update
Bulk replacements across many files are risky when every buffer gets written unconditionally.
How do I uppercase just the current paragraph without visual selection?
gUip
gUip is a compact operator-plus-text-object pattern that uppercases exactly the paragraph your cursor is in.
How do I record one edit and replay it on the next two lines with a macro?
qqgUiwjq2@q
Macros are strongest when the edit pattern is stable but too awkward for a one-liner substitute.
How do I search non-greedily across multiple lines between two markers?
/\vstart\_.{-}end
Multiline searches in Vim often overmatch because .
How do I trim trailing whitespace while preserving marks, jumplist, and search state?
:lockmarks keepjumps keeppatterns %s/\s\+$//e
Bulk cleanup commands are easy to automate, but many implementations quietly damage editor state by moving marks, polluting the jumplist, or replacing your last
How do I restrict a search to a specific line-number window without selecting text first?
/\%>20l\%<40lTODO
Vim's search engine can constrain matches by line number, which is useful when you want to scan a known section without touching the rest of the buffer.
How do I reverse the order of all lines in a file using Vim?
:g/^/m 0
This clever use of the :global command reverses every line in the current buffer.
command-line #editing #ex-commands #global #text-manipulation
How do I swap two parts of a line using capture groups in a Vim substitution?
:s/\v(pattern1)(pattern2)/\2\1/
Vim's substitute command supports capture groups (also called backreferences), which let you rearrange matched portions of text.
How do I make Vim match only part of a larger regex using \zs and \ze?
/\vfoo\zsbar\zebaz
When you need to target only a slice of a larger pattern, \zs and \ze are usually cleaner than building lookarounds.
How do I repeat my last substitution across the entire file?
g&
The g& command repeats the last substitute command across the entire file.
How do I search for the word under the cursor as a substring, not a whole word?
g* and g#
The and # commands search for the exact whole word under the cursor (with word boundaries \).
How do I sort lines and remove duplicates in Vim?
:%sort u
The :sort u command sorts all lines in the file and removes duplicate lines in one operation.
command-line #command-line #ex-commands #editing #text-manipulation #sort
How do I run an interactive replacement across quickfix entries and only save changed files?
:cdo keeppatterns s/\<foo\>/bar/gec | update
When quickfix already contains precise targets, :cdo gives you a safer multi-file replace loop than broad project substitutions.
command-line #command-line #quickfix #substitute #refactoring
How do I sort selected lines numerically in visual mode using the first number on each line?
:'<,'>sort n /\d\+/
Plain :sort n is useful, but it only works when the numeric key starts at the beginning of each line.
visual-mode #visual-mode #sorting #ex-commands #text-processing
How do I remove trailing whitespace across all open buffers and save only changed files?
:bufdo keeppatterns %s/\s\+$//e | update
If you keep many files open during a refactor, cleaning trailing whitespace one buffer at a time is slow and error-prone.
How do I trim trailing whitespace in a file without polluting jumplist or search history?
:keepjumps keeppatterns %s/\s\+$//e<CR>
Bulk whitespace cleanup is common, but a plain substitution can leave side effects: your last search pattern changes and jump navigation gets noisy.