How do I repeat my last substitution across the entire file?
g&
The g& command repeats the last substitute command across the entire file.
Search: i" a"
2125 results for "i" a""
How do I search and replace with confirmation for each match?
:%s/old/new/gc
Adding the c flag to a substitute command makes Vim pause at every match and ask you whether to replace it.
How do I save and restore my entire Vim session including open buffers, windows, and layout?
:mksession
:mksession saves a snapshot of the current Vim session — all open buffers, window splits, tab pages, cursor positions, and folds — to a file called Session.
How do I fold and unfold sections of code to hide details I'm not working on?
zf / zo / zc / za
Vim's folding system lets you collapse blocks of code into a single line, hiding the details so you can focus on the structure.
editing #editing #folding #navigation #normal-mode #productivity
How do I navigate through wrapped lines visually instead of by actual lines?
gj and gk
When wrap is enabled, long lines wrap across multiple screen lines.
How do I prepend ascending numbers only to the lines in my visual selection?
:'<,'>s/^/\=line('.')-line("'<")+1 . '. '/
When you need quick numbered steps, logs, or checklist entries, this pattern adds numbers only to the lines you selected, not the whole buffer.
How do I navigate Vim's undo tree in chronological order to recover changes from an abandoned undo branch?
g+
Vim's undo history is a tree, not a linear stack.
How do I automatically detect and match a file's indentation settings in Vim?
vim-sleuth
The vim-sleuth plugin by Tim Pope automatically detects the indentation style (tabs vs spaces) and width used in a file and sets shiftwidth, expandtab, tabstop,
How do I view the treesitter syntax tree for the current buffer in Neovim?
:InspectTree
Opens an interactive split window showing the treesitter parse tree for the current buffer.
How do I move between split windows using direction keys in Vim?
<C-w>h / <C-w>j / <C-w>k / <C-w>l
How it works Vim lets you navigate between split windows using followed by a direction key.
How do I center the current line on screen and move to the first non-blank character?
z.
Vim has two flavors of each screen-repositioning command: one that only moves the view and one that also repositions the cursor.
How do I quickly open my vimrc configuration file from anywhere in Vim?
:e $MYVIMRC
The :e $MYVIMRC command opens your Vim or Neovim configuration file instantly, no matter where it lives.
How do I find trailing whitespace while skipping completely blank lines in Vim?
/\S\zs\s\+$
A plain trailing-whitespace search like /\s\+$ also matches fully blank lines, which is noisy when you only want accidental spaces after real content.
How do I jump to the previous change and reveal it clearly in Vim?
g;zvzz
Jumping through the changelist with g; is useful, but in real files the destination can land inside a closed fold or off-center on screen, which slows review.
How do I stage and unstage Git files without leaving Vim?
:Git
The vim-fugitive plugin by Tim Pope provides an interactive Git status window that lets you stage, unstage, diff, and commit files entirely from within Vim.
How do I send Telescope results to the quickfix list for bulk editing?
<C-q> (Telescope)
While inside any Telescope picker, pressing sends all current results to the quickfix list and closes the picker.
How do I temporarily narrow quickfix entries by pattern using the cfilter plugin?
:packadd cfilter | Cfilter /ERROR/
Quickfix lists can get noisy in large projects, especially when one grep or compiler run mixes several classes of issues.
How do I use POSIX character classes in Vim search patterns?
/[[:digit:][:upper:]]
Vim supports POSIX character classes inside bracket expressions, providing a portable and readable way to match categories of characters.
How do I jump to any location on screen using a two-character search in Vim?
s{char}{char}
The vim-sneak plugin by Justin Keyes provides a motion that lets you jump to any visible location by typing just two characters.
How do I create abbreviations for the Vim command line to fix typos like W and Q?
:cnoreabbrev {lhs} {rhs}
:cnoreabbrev defines a non-recursive command-line abbreviation — like noremap but for Ex commands.