How do I apply the last substitution's replacement to a different search pattern without retyping it?
:~
The :~ command repeats the last substitution but uses the current search pattern instead of the original pattern.
Tag: substitution
How do I replace only part of a matched pattern using \zs and \ze in a substitution?
:%s/\zsparseData\ze(/processData/g
Vim's \zs and \ze atoms let you include context in your search pattern without including that context in the replacement.
How do I run a substitution in Vim without getting an error when the pattern is not found?
:%s/pattern/replacement/ge
The e flag on :substitute silences the "Pattern not found" error that Vim normally reports when a substitution has no matches.
How do I write a non-greedy (lazy) quantifier in Vim's search regex?
\{-}
In Vim's regex engine, \{-} is the non-greedy (lazy) quantifier — it matches as few characters as possible, unlike .
How do I restrict a search or substitution to exactly the characters I visually selected?
\%V (in search/substitute pattern)
The \%V atom in a Vim pattern matches only inside the last visual selection.
search #search #visual-mode #substitution #regex #normal-mode
How do I use capture groups in Vim substitutions to rearrange or swap matched text?
:s/\v(\w+) (\w+)/\2 \1/
Vim's substitute command supports capture groups using \( and \) (or ( and ) in \v very-magic mode).
How do I use a Vim expression to dynamically compute substitution replacement text?
: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.
How do I search or substitute only within specific columns of text in Vim?
\%>20c
The \%Nc, \%>Nc, and \%20c — match only after column 20 (i.
How do I split a line by inserting a newline with the substitute command?
:s/,/\r/g
In Vim's substitute command, use \r (not \n) in the replacement to insert a real newline.
How do I count the number of pattern matches in a file without making substitutions?
:s/pattern//gn
The :s///gn command counts how many times a pattern appears in the file without actually replacing anything.
command-line #search #ex-commands #substitution #command-line
How do I run a substitution without overwriting my current search pattern?
:keeppatterns {command}
The :keeppatterns modifier runs an Ex command — typically :s, :g, or :v — without modifying @/ (the last search pattern) or the command history.
command-line #ex-commands #search #substitution #command-line #scripting
How do I do a case-preserving search and replace across different naming conventions?
:%Subvert/old{,s}/new{,s}/g
Tim Pope's vim-abolish plugin provides the :Subvert command (aliased as :S), which performs substitutions that automatically preserve case variants and handle p
plugins #plugins #substitution #editing #ex-commands #search
How do I run a command across all open buffers at once?
:bufdo %s/old/new/ge | update
The :bufdo command executes an Ex command in every loaded buffer.
buffers-windows #buffers #ex-commands #editing #substitution
How do I match only part of a search pattern in Vim using \zs and \ze?
/\(function\s\+\)\zs\w\+
Vim's \zs and \ze atoms let you control which part of a matched pattern gets highlighted and operated on.
How do I search for a pattern only within a specific range of lines in Vim?
:/start/,/end/s/pattern/replacement/g
You can restrict a substitution to a range defined by two patterns.
How do I search and replace only whole word matches, not partial matches?
:%s/\<old\>/new/g
Wrapping your search pattern in \ word boundary anchors ensures that Vim only matches the exact whole word, preventing accidental replacements inside longer wor
How do I search and replace with confirmation for each match?
:%s/old/new/gc
Adding the c flag to a substitute command makes Vim pause at every match and ask you whether to replace it.
How do I use expressions in Vim's substitute replacement?
:%s/pattern/\=expression/g
Vim's substitute command supports expression replacements using \= in the replacement string.
How do I search and replace text across multiple files in Vim?
:args **/*.py | argdo %s/old/new/gc | update
Vim can perform search-and-replace across multiple files without any plugins by combining the arglist with :argdo.
search #search #substitution #ex-commands #productivity #quickfix #arglist
How do I search for text only within a visual selection?
/\%Vpattern
The \%V atom restricts a search pattern to only match inside the most recent visual selection.