:cdo s/foo/bar/ge | update
When quickfix already contains exactly the lines you want to touch, :cdo is the safest way to batch-edit with tight scope.
command-line #command-line #quickfix #substitution #refactoring
:%s/pattern/replacement/gn
When you are about to run a broad substitution, it is often safer to measure impact first.
command-line #command-line #ex-commands #substitution #search
:%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.
:%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
:'<,'>s/\%V\s\+$//
Sometimes you need to clean alignment artifacts in a rectangular region without touching the rest of each line.
visual-mode #visual-mode #substitution #regex #formatting #editing
:%s/\v(\S+)\s+(\S+)/\2 \1/<CR>
When you need to flip two fields across a whole file, a single substitution is faster and safer than recording a macro.
editing #editing #substitution #regex #ex-commands #formatting
:lockmarks keepjumps keeppatterns %s/foo/bar/ge
Large substitutions are efficient, but they often leave side effects: your last search changes, your jumplist gets noisy, and marks can shift in ways that break
command-line #command-line #editing #substitution #navigation
:s/\v\d+/\=printf('%04d', submatch(0))/g
Substitution expressions let Vim compute each replacement dynamically, which is ideal when plain capture groups are too limited.
:'<,'>s/\%V./\U&/g
When you need to transform text in-place without touching surrounding content, \%V is one of Vim's most precise tools.
:keeppatterns %s/\s\+$//e
Bulk cleanup commands often damage your navigation flow by overwriting the last search pattern (@/).
command-line #command-line #search #substitution #whitespace
:%s/\(\d\+\)/\=submatch(1)+1/g
Vim's substitute command supports using a VimScript expression as the replacement by prefixing it with \=.
:s/pattern/~/
In a Vim substitution, using ~ as the replacement string repeats the replacement text from the most recent :s command.
:%s/\d\+/\=printf('%03d', submatch(0))/g
Combining Vim's \= expression substitution with the printf() function lets you apply arbitrary formatting to matched text.
l (in :%s///gc confirm prompt)
When running an interactive substitution with the c flag (e.
editing #search #editing #substitution #ex-commands #normal-mode
:%s/\v(\w+)/\u\L\1/g
Vim's substitution engine supports case-modifier sequences in the replacement string, making it possible to convert text to title case in a single command.
search #search #substitution #regex #editing #case #formatting
:'a,'bs/old/new/g
Named marks can serve as range endpoints for any Ex command, including :substitute.
:%s/\(prefix\)\@<=target/replacement/g
Vim's \@<= is a zero-width look-behind assertion.
\zs and \ze in a pattern
Vim's \zs ("match start") and \ze ("match end") atoms let you narrow the actual match region within a broader pattern context.
\n in search, \r in replacement
Vim uses \n and \r differently depending on whether they appear in a search pattern or a replacement string, and mixing them up is a common source of confusion.
\@= and \@<=
Vim's regex engine supports zero-width lookahead and lookbehind assertions — \@= and \@<= — which let you match text based on surrounding context without in
