:set grepprg=rg\ --vimgrep\ --smart-case\ --hidden\ --glob\ !.git
Vim's :grep becomes much more useful when grepprg is tuned for ripgrep and quickfix-compatible output.
:%s/\V<C-r>//gc
When your last search pattern contains punctuation, slashes, or regex atoms, retyping it inside :substitute is error-prone.
:keeppatterns %s/\s\+$//e
Bulk cleanup commands often damage your navigation flow by overwriting the last search pattern (@/).
command-line #command-line #search #substitution #whitespace
:echo string(getreg('q'))
Macros can fail for subtle reasons: hidden control keys, extra whitespace, or unexpected register contents.
registers #registers #macros #debugging #automation #command-line
:history :
When you work with long substitution pipelines or multi-part Ex commands, digging through all history (:history) adds noise.
:keepjumps normal! gg=G<CR>
Whole-buffer reindent is common, but doing it naively can pollute your jumplist and break navigation flow during review.
:windo lcd %:p:h<CR>
When multiple splits point at files from different projects, relative-path commands can become inconsistent and error-prone.
:redir @a | messages | redir END<CR>
When debugging a session or building repeatable edits, it is useful to turn command output into editable text.
:g/BEGIN/+1,/END/-1 delete
By combining the :global command with a relative address range, you can delete the content between repeating delimiter pairs while leaving the delimiters intact
:set wildmode=longest:full,full
The wildmode option controls what happens when you press in the command line.
:[range]w !{cmd}
The :[range]w !{cmd} command writes a range of lines to the standard input of a shell command, leaving the buffer completely unchanged.
:reg {names}
The :registers command dumps every register at once, which is noisy when you only care about a handful.
vim.ui.open()
vim.
:lua = {expression}
In Neovim, :lua = expr is a shorthand that evaluates a Lua expression and pretty-prints the result using vim.
vim.ui.select() and vim.ui.input()
Neovim provides vim.
:g/pattern1/g/pattern2/command
Vim's :g command can be nested — the command part of one :g can itself be another :g.
:noautocmd e {file}
When you have heavy autocmds registered for BufRead, BufEnter, or FileType events — such as LSP clients, formatters, or syntax processors — opening a large
command-line #command-line #ex-commands #buffers-windows #config
:saveas {newname}
:saveas saves the buffer to a new file and redirects all future :w commands to write to that new filename — making it the true "Save As" command in Vim.
:command -range {Name} ...
Custom Ex commands defined with :command -range can be called with a line range (e.
<C-a> (command-line)
Pressing on the command line expands all current completion matches into the command at once, rather than cycling through them one at a time with .
