:lvimgrepadd /pattern/gj **/*
When investigating a bug or refactor, you often need to gather results from several related patterns before deciding what to edit.
:cfdo %s/\<GetUser\>/FetchUser/ge | update
When quickfix has many matches per file, :cdo can execute your command repeatedly in the same buffer.
command-line #command-line #quickfix #refactoring #ex-commands #search
:vimgrep /\<TODO\>/gj **/*.lua | copen
When you want a project-wide TODO pass without leaving Vim, :vimgrep plus quickfix is a strong built-in workflow.
search #search #quickfix #command-line #project-navigation #ex-commands
:%s/\v(\S+)\s+(\S+)/\2 \1/<CR>
When you need to flip two fields across a whole file, a single substitution is faster and safer than recording a macro.
editing #editing #substitution #regex #ex-commands #formatting
:set inccommand=nosplit
When you are crafting a risky :substitute command, the expensive part is usually confidence, not typing.
:setlocal winfixheight winfixwidth
If you use a dedicated utility pane (logs, quick notes, REPL output), Vim's default equalization behavior can keep resizing it whenever other splits change.
:keepjumps normal! gg=G
Bulk formatting commands are common in cleanup sessions, but they often leave side effects in your navigation history.
:set diffopt+=algorithm:histogram,indent-heuristic
Default diff behavior can produce noisy hunks when code is moved or indentation changes significantly.
:%s/\vfoo\zsbar/baz/g
When your match has a stable prefix but you only want to replace the trailing segment, \zs is often cleaner than introducing extra capture groups.
:argdo %s/\<old\>/new/ge | update
When you need to apply the same substitution across a curated set of files, :argdo is safer than a broad project-wide command.
command-line #command-line #ex-commands #search #buffers #formatting
:cgetexpr systemlist('rg --vimgrep TODO')
When you already have a shell command that emits file:line:col:message records, :cgetexpr is a fast way to populate quickfix directly.
:undojoin<CR>
By default, separate edits often become separate undo entries, which makes replaying or backing out a multi-part change noisy.
:windo diffthis<CR>
If you already have several related files open in splits, enabling diff mode one window at a time is slow and error-prone.
buffers-windows #buffers-windows #diff #windows #ex-commands
:while search('TODO') | normal! @q | endwhile
A fixed count like 100@q is brittle: sometimes your macro needs 12 passes, sometimes 300, and over-running can corrupt already-processed text.
macros #macros #automation #search #normal-mode #ex-commands
:windo normal! @q
When you split a file into multiple windows or keep several related buffers visible, repeating the same small cleanup in each one can be tedious.
macros #macros #windows #normal-mode #ex-commands #automation
:silent keeppatterns %s/\s\+$//e
Trailing whitespace cleanup is a common housekeeping step, but a plain substitution can leave side effects: it can overwrite your last search pattern (@/) and t
command-line #command-line #ex-commands #editing #search #formatting
:'<,'>g/let /normal! A;<CR>
When you need a structural edit in part of a file, Visual mode ranges combine well with :global and :normal!.
visual-mode #visual-mode #command-line #ex-commands #editing
:argdo %s/foo/bar/ge | update
Bulk replacements across many files are risky when every buffer gets written unconditionally.
:%s/\v<(\w+)\s+\1>/\1/g\<CR>
OCR cleanup, copy-paste artifacts, and rushed note-taking often produce repeated words like the the or is is.
: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
