How do I search non-greedily across multiple lines between two markers?
/\vstart\_.{-}end
Multiline searches in Vim often overmatch because .
Tag: regex
How do I search only the message part of TODO comments using match boundaries?
/\vTODO:\s*\zs.{-}\ze\s*($|#)
When TODO comments include prefixes, owners, or trailing metadata, a plain search often lands on the wrong part of the line.
How do I search for 'bar' that is not preceded by 'foo'?
/foo\@<!bar
Vim regex supports zero-width assertions, so you can match text based on context without consuming the context itself.
How do I restrict a search to a specific line-number window without selecting text first?
/\%>20l\%<40lTODO
Vim's search engine can constrain matches by line number, which is useful when you want to scan a known section without touching the rest of the buffer.
How do I search literally for the exact text I yanked last?
:let @/ = '\V' . escape(@0, '\')
When the text you yank contains regex characters, a normal / search can produce noisy or surprising matches.
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 jump through several annotation keywords with one search command?
/\v<(TODO|FIXME|BUG)>
When you triage code, jumping among TODO, FIXME, and BUG markers quickly is often more useful than searching each token separately.
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 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 convert all numbers to fixed-width zero-padded values in Vim?
:%s/\v\d+/\=printf('%04d', submatch(0))/g
When you need aligned numeric data for logs, IDs, or generated fixtures, manual edits are slow and error-prone.
How do I title-case every word in a buffer using one Vim substitution?
:%s/\v<(\w)(\w*)>/\u\1\L\2/g
When you need to normalize casing across headings, labels, or generated docs, editing words one by one is tedious.
How do I zero-pad every number in a buffer with one substitution?
:%s/\v(\d+)/\=printf('%04d', submatch(1))/g
When you need stable-width numeric fields, manual edits are slow and error-prone.
command-line #command-line #substitution #regex #refactoring
How do I remove trailing spaces only within the currently selected visual block?
:'<,'>s/\%V\s\+$//
Sometimes you need to clean alignment artifacts in a rectangular region without touching the rest of each line.
visual-mode #visual-mode #substitution #regex #formatting #editing
How do I swap the first two whitespace-separated columns on every line?
:%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
How do I run one substitution in nomagic mode so most regex characters are literal?
:snomagic /foo.\+/bar/<CR>
When a pattern is mostly literal text with just a little regex, default magic mode can force extra escaping and make substitutions harder to read.
How do I collapse consecutive duplicate words across a file?
:%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.
How do I rerun a previous search pattern from history directly on the / prompt?
/\V<C-r>=histget('/', -2)<CR>
If you often alternate between two complex search patterns, opening q/ each time is slow.
How do I search for yanked text literally in Vim without escaping regex characters?
/\V<C-r><C-r>"
When your yanked text includes regex symbols like .
How do I mix very-nomagic and magic sections in a single Vim search?
/\Vsrc/main.c\m:\d\+<CR>
Sometimes you need one search pattern that treats a literal path strictly while still using regex power for the suffix.
How do I list only search-pattern history entries in Vim?
:history /
Power users tend to run long, composable searches during refactors, but the default / and ? history navigation can be noisy when command history and search hist