:let view=winsaveview() | {cmd} | call winrestview(view)
When writing Vimscript functions or mappings, commands like :substitute, gg, or :%normal will move the cursor and change the scroll position.
:breakadd func {funcname}
Vim has a built-in debugger for Vimscript that most users never discover.
:setlocal statusline=%f\ %m\ %y\ [%l/%L]
The :setlocal statusline command lets you override the global statusline for a specific window.
:sandbox {cmd}
The :sandbox command modifier executes any Ex command in a restricted environment where potentially dangerous operations are blocked.
:set diffopt+=iwhite
When comparing files in Vim's diff mode, whitespace-only changes (extra spaces, changed indentation) can clutter the diff and hide meaningful edits.
:s/\v(pattern1)(pattern2)/\2\1/
Vim's substitute command supports capture groups (also called backreferences), which let you rearrange matched portions of text.
:g/pattern/m0
When working with large files, you sometimes need to reorganize content by pulling all lines matching a certain pattern to the top.
command-line #global #move #ex-commands #editing #command-line
:compiler gcc | :make
Vim ships with built-in compiler plugins that configure makeprg and errorformat for popular tools.
:m +1
The :move command (abbreviated :m) relocates lines to a new position in the buffer without touching any registers.
:%sort /[^,]*,/ n
Vim's :sort command accepts a pattern that controls which part of each line is used as the sort key.
:keeppattern %s/pattern/replacement/g
When you run a :substitute command, Vim updates the search register (@/) with the substitute pattern, which changes your hlsearch highlighting and affects n/N n
:nnoremap <expr> j (v:count == 0 ? 'gj' : 'j')
Expression mappings use the flag to evaluate a Vimscript expression at the time the key is pressed.
!{motion}{program}
The ! operator in normal mode lets you pipe a range of text through any external program and replace it with the output.
:g/pattern/.-1,.+1d
The :g (global) command normally operates on lines that match a pattern.
:cexpr system('grep -rn TODO .')
The :cexpr command evaluates an expression and parses the result as quickfix entries using the current errorformat.
:%s/^/\=line('.').' '/
Vim's substitute command supports expressions in the replacement string using \=.
:let @a = substitute(@a, 'old', 'new', 'g')
After recording a macro or yanking text into a named register, you may need to tweak it — fix a typo in a recorded macro, change a variable name in yanked tex
/\%>10c\%<20cpattern
When working with columnar data like CSV files, log files, or fixed-width records, you often need to match a pattern only when it appears in a specific column r
:s/^/\=line('.') - line("'<") + 1 . '. '/
When you need to quickly number a set of lines — such as TODO items, steps, or bullet points — you can use a visual selection combined with a substitution e
visual-mode #visual-mode #editing #ex-commands #formatting #substitute
:g/pattern/m 0
The :global command combined with :move lets you restructure a file by relocating all lines that match a pattern.
