:'<,'>center
After making a visual selection, typing : automatically inserts ' to scope the command to the selection.
visual-mode #visual-mode #formatting #ex-commands #indentation
:pedit
Vim has a built-in preview window — a special window distinct from regular splits.
:e +/pattern filename
The +{cmd} flag on :edit (and most file-opening commands) runs an Ex command immediately after the file loads.
command-line #command-line #ex-commands #navigation #search #buffers
/\%>5l\%<10l pattern
Vim's \%>{lnum}l and \%5l — matches only at positions after line 5 (i.
:let @a = 'text'
Vim's :let command lets you assign a value directly to any named register without performing a yank or delete operation.
registers #registers #macros #vimscript #ex-commands #normal-mode
:argdo normal @a
The :argdo command applies any Ex command to every file in the argument list.
:execute
:execute evaluates a string as an Ex command, letting you build commands dynamically or embed special key sequences (like or ) as literal characters.
:for i in range(1,10) | execute "normal @q" | endfor
Using a Vimscript :for loop with execute "normal @q" lets you run a macro with a dynamically computed iteration count and interleave other Ex commands between i
:put =execute('{cmd}')
The :put =execute('{cmd}') idiom inserts the output of any Vim Ex command as text in your buffer.
registers #registers #ex-commands #command-line #normal-mode
:augroup
Wrapping autocmds in a named augroup with autocmd! at the start prevents duplicate autocommands from accumulating every time your vimrc is sourced.
:packadd
Since Vim 8 and Neovim, Vim has a built-in package system that can load plugins directly from the filesystem — no external plugin manager required.
set path+=**
By adding to Vim's path option, you enable recursive directory search — which makes :find with tab completion a lightweight project-wide fuzzy finder, no plug
:put =system('cmd')
:put =system('cmd') lets you insert the output of any shell command as new lines in your buffer without leaving Vim.
:g/pattern/d A
Using :g/pattern/d A you can sweep through the entire buffer and extract every line that matches a pattern into register a, removing them from the buffer in the
:let @q = 'content'
:let @{reg} = 'string' directly assigns content to any named register from Vimscript.
:wincmd
:wincmd {key} executes any {key} window command from the Ex command line or from inside a Vimscript function.
\%#
The \%# atom in Vim's regex engine matches the exact position of the cursor — zero-width, between characters.
:s/pattern/\=expression/
The \= prefix in the replacement field of :s/// tells Vim to evaluate the right-hand side as a Vim script expression and use the result as the replacement text.
set wildcharm=<Tab>
By default, pressing in a : mapping inserts a literal tab character rather than triggering wildmenu completion.
:tab ball
:tab ball (short for :tab sball, "split all buffers in tabs") opens every listed buffer in its own tab page in a single command.
