How do I prepend text to every selected line even with uneven indentation?
:'<,'>normal! I//
Visual Block insert (I.
Tag: ex-commands
How do I execute a macro from bottom to top over a selected range?
:'>,'<normal @q
Running a macro over a range usually goes top to bottom, but that can break when the macro inserts or deletes lines.
macros #macros #ex-commands #visual-mode #normal-mode #refactoring
How do I apply an Ex command only to the exact range of my last change or yank?
:'[,']normal! =
When you need to run a command on exactly the text you just changed, yanked, or pasted, Vim's automatic marks are faster and safer than reselecting manually.
command-line #command-line #marks #indentation #ex-commands #normal-mode
How do I join wrapped paragraph lines while keeping blank-line paragraph separators?
:g/^\s*$/,/./-1join
When text is hard-wrapped (for example from email, logs, or copied docs), joining entire paragraphs manually is slow and error-prone.
editing #editing #formatting #ex-commands #text-manipulation
How do I define a custom Ex command that forwards arguments with file completion?
:command! -nargs=* -complete=file W w <args>
When you repeatedly type a long Ex command with filenames, define a user command that keeps the behavior but shortens the keystrokes.
command-line #command-line #ex-commands #completion #workflow
How do I count substitution matches before changing anything?
:%s/pattern/replacement/gn
When you are about to run a broad substitution, it is often safer to measure impact first.
command-line #command-line #ex-commands #substitution #search
How do I swap the first two comma-separated fields on each line with one substitute command?
:%s/\v^([^,]+),([^,]+),/\2,\1,/<CR>
When CSV-like data has two columns in the wrong order, manually fixing each line is slow and error-prone.
How do I refactor a recorded macro by rewriting its keystrokes with substitute()?
:let @q = substitute(@q, 'foo', 'bar', 'g')
Recorded macros are plain text stored in registers, which means you can refactor them instead of re-recording from scratch.
How do I remove the most recent Ex command from command history in Vim?
:call histdel(':', -1)
When you run sensitive or noisy Ex commands, they stay in command history and can be recalled accidentally.
How do I save only modified files across the argument list in Vim?
:argdo update
When working through an argument list, many files may remain unchanged.
command-line #command-line #buffers #ex-commands #refactoring
How do I prepend a custom persistent undo directory while keeping existing undodir paths in Vim?
:set undodir^=$HOME/.vim/undo//
If you already have an undodir configured by a distro config or plugin, replacing it outright can remove fallback paths you still want.
How do I indent the current line without changing local marks in Vim?
:lockmarks normal! >>
When you run editing commands from the command line, Vim usually updates special marks like '[ and '] to the changed text.
How do I append new keystrokes to an existing macro register without re-recording it?
:let @q .= 'A;<Esc>'
Re-recording a long macro just to add one extra step is slow and error-prone.
How do I enable synchronized scrolling in every open window?
:windo setlocal scrollbind
When reviewing related files side by side, manually keeping splits aligned wastes attention.
How do I load the search register with a literal <cword> pattern?
:let @/ = '\V' .. escape(expand('<cword>'), '\\')
Sometimes * is too opinionated: it uses keyword boundaries and interprets regex metacharacters.
How do I build a location list of TODO matches across a project?
:lvimgrep /\<TODO\>/gj **/* | lopen
If you want project-wide search results without polluting the global quickfix list, use a location list.
How do I zero-pad numbers with :substitute using an expression replacement?
:%s/\v(\d+)/\=printf('%04d', submatch(1))/g<CR>
When you need to normalize IDs, ticket numbers, or sequence values, :substitute can do more than plain text replacement.
command-line #command-line #substitute #regex #formatting #ex-commands
How do I run a replacement only over the current window's location-list matches?
:ldo s/foo/bar/ge | update\<CR>
:ldo is one of the most effective ways to perform targeted, multi-file edits without touching unrelated text.
How do I search a project but keep results window-local using the location list instead of quickfix?
:lvimgrep /TODO/j **/* | lopen\<CR>
When you are working in multiple windows, quickfix can become noisy because it is shared globally across the editor session.
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.