How do I manually set the visual selection marks to define a precise Ex command range without entering visual mode?
m<
Vim's ' marks record the start and end of the last visual selection and power the ' range used by Ex commands.
Tag: marks
How do I reuse the last visual selection range in an Ex command after exiting visual mode in Vim?
:'<,'>
Vim automatically sets two special marks whenever you make a visual selection: ' (end).
How do I jump to the start or end of the last changed, yanked, or pasted text using automatic marks?
'[ and ']
Vim automatically sets two special marks after every change, yank, or put operation: '[ and '].
How do I set a bookmark that takes me back to a specific line in any file?
mA
Uppercase marks (A–Z) are global marks in Vim — they persist across files and even across sessions (when viminfo or shada is configured).
How do I set a bookmark that persists across different files and Vim sessions?
mA and 'A
Vim has two tiers of marks.
How do I jump to a mark without adding my current position to the jumplist?
g'{mark}
Vim's standard mark-jump commands ('a, ` a `) always add the current position to the jumplist before leaping to the mark.
How do I cycle through all lowercase marks in the current file sequentially?
]'
The ]' command jumps to the start of the line containing the next lowercase mark in the file, while [' jumps to the previous one.
What is the difference between ' and ` when jumping to a mark in Vim?
' vs `
Vim provides two distinct ways to jump to a mark, and they behave differently: the apostrophe ' jumps to the first non-blank character of the marked line, while
How do I reopen Vim and jump directly to where I was editing last time?
'0
Pressing '0 in normal mode jumps to the exact cursor position in the most recently edited file, even after closing and reopening Vim.
How do I bookmark a position in one file and jump back to it from any other file?
mA to set, 'A to jump
Uppercase marks (A–Z) are global marks — they persist across files and Vim sessions.
How do I run commands without disturbing my marks?
:lockmarks
Many Ex commands silently adjust or delete marks as a side effect of modifying buffer content.
What is the difference between backtick and apostrophe when jumping to marks?
`a vs 'a
Vim has two ways to jump to marks: backtick (` `) jumps to the exact line AND column, while apostrophe (') jumps to the line only, positioning the cursor at the
How do you list all marks in Vim?
:marks
Use :marks to display all current marks with their line numbers, column positions, and file/text.
How do you yank lines between two marks into a register?
"a:'a,'by
Set marks with ma and mb, then yank the range between them into register a using "a:'a,'by.
How do I jump to the start or end of the last visual selection?
`< and `>
The ` ` marks automatically track the boundaries of the last visual selection.
How do I jump to the start or end of the text I last yanked or changed?
`[ and `]
The ` [ ` and ] ` marks automatically track the boundaries of the last changed or yanked text.
How do I jump back to where I was before my last search?
``
The double backtick jumps to the exact position before the last jump.
How do I jump to the exact column position of a mark?
`{mark}
The backtick command ` ` followed by a mark name jumps to the exact line and column of that mark, unlike the single-quote ' which only goes to the line.
How do I set marks that work across files?
m{A-Z}
Uppercase marks (A-Z) are global marks that remember both the file and the cursor position.
How do I cycle through positions where I made changes?
g;
The g; command moves backward through the change list, jumping to positions where edits were made.