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VIM(1) General Commands Manual VIM(1)
NAME
vim - Vi IMproved, a programmer's text editor
SYNOPSIS
vim [options] [file ..]
vim [options] -
vim [options] -t tag
vim [options] -q [errorfile]
ex
view
gvim gview evim eview
rvim rview rgvim rgview
DESCRIPTION
Vim is a text editor that is upwards compatible to Vi. It can be used
to edit all kinds of plain text. It is especially useful for editing
programs.
There are a lot of enhancements above Vi: multi level undo, multi win‐
dows and buffers, syntax highlighting, command line editing, filename
completion, on-line help, visual selection, etc.. See ":help
vi_diff.txt" for a summary of the differences between Vim and Vi.
While running Vim a lot of help can be obtained from the on-line help
system, with the ":help" command. See the ON-LINE HELP section below.
Most often Vim is started to edit a single file with the command
vim file
More generally Vim is started with:
vim [options] [filelist]
If the filelist is missing, the editor will start with an empty buffer.
Otherwise exactly one out of the following four may be used to choose
one or more files to be edited.
file .. A list of filenames. The first one will be the current
file and read into the buffer. The cursor will be posi‐
tioned on the first line of the buffer. You can get to the
other files with the ":next" command. To edit a file that
starts with a dash, precede the filelist with "--".
- The file to edit is read from stdin. Commands are read
from stderr, which should be a tty.
-t {tag} The file to edit and the initial cursor position depends on
a "tag", a sort of goto label. {tag} is looked up in the
tags file, the associated file becomes the current file and
the associated command is executed. Mostly this is used
for C programs, in which case {tag} could be a function
name. The effect is that the file containing that function
becomes the current file and the cursor is positioned on
the start of the function. See ":help tag-commands".
-q [errorfile]
Start in quickFix mode. The file [errorfile] is read and
the first error is displayed. If [errorfile] is omitted,
the filename is obtained from the 'errorfile' option (de‐
faults to "AztecC.Err" for the Amiga, "errors.err" on other
systems). Further errors can be jumped to with the ":cn"
command. See ":help quickfix".
Vim behaves differently, depending on the name of the command (the exe‐
cutable may still be the same file).
vim The "normal" way, everything is default.
ex Start in Ex mode. Go to Normal mode with the ":vi" command.
Can also be done with the "-e" argument.
view Start in read-only mode. You will be protected from writing
the files. Can also be done with the "-R" argument.
gvim gview
The GUI version. Starts a new window. Can also be done with
the "-g" argument.
evim eview
The GUI version in easy mode. Starts a new window. Can also
be done with the "-y" argument.
rvim rview rgvim rgview
Like the above, but with restrictions. It will not be possi‐
ble to start shell commands, or suspend Vim. Can also be
done with the "-Z" argument.
OPTIONS
The options may be given in any order, before or after filenames. Op‐
tions without an argument can be combined after a single dash.
+[num] For the first file the cursor will be positioned on line
"num". If "num" is missing, the cursor will be positioned
on the last line.
+/{pat} For the first file the cursor will be positioned in the
line with the first occurrence of {pat}. See ":help
search-pattern" for the available search patterns.
+{command}
-c {command}
{command} will be executed after the first file has been
read. {command} is interpreted as an Ex command. If the
{command} contains spaces it must be enclosed in double
quotes (this depends on the shell that is used). Example:
vim "+set si" main.c
Note: You can use up to 10 "+" or "-c" commands.
-A If Vim has been compiled with ARABIC support for editing
right-to-left oriented files and Arabic keyboard mapping,
this option starts Vim in Arabic mode, i.e. 'arabic' is
set. Otherwise an error message is given and Vim aborts.
-b Binary mode. A few options will be set that makes it pos‐
sible to edit a binary or executable file.
-C Compatible. Set the 'compatible' option. This will make
Vim behave mostly like Vi, even though a .vimrc file ex‐
ists.
-d Start in diff mode. There should between two to eight file
name arguments. Vim will open all the files and show dif‐
ferences between them. Works like vimdiff(1).
-d {device}, -dev {device}
Open {device} for use as a terminal. Only on the Amiga.
Example: "-d con:20/30/600/150".
-D Debugging. Go to debugging mode when executing the first
command from a script.
-e Start Vim in Ex mode, just like the executable was called
"ex".
-E Start Vim in improved Ex mode, just like the executable was
called "exim".
-f Foreground. For the GUI version, Vim will not fork and de‐
tach from the shell it was started in. On the Amiga, Vim
is not restarted to open a new window. This option should
be used when Vim is executed by a program that will wait
for the edit session to finish (e.g. mail). On the Amiga
the ":sh" and ":!" commands will not work.
-F If Vim has been compiled with FKMAP support for editing
right-to-left oriented files and Farsi keyboard mapping,
this option starts Vim in Farsi mode, i.e. 'fkmap' and
'rightleft' are set. Otherwise an error message is given
and Vim aborts.
Note: Farsi support has been removed in patch 8.1.0932.
-g If Vim has been compiled with GUI support, this option en‐
ables the GUI. If no GUI support was compiled in, an error
message is given and Vim aborts.
-H If Vim has been compiled with RIGHTLEFT support for editing
right-to-left oriented files and Hebrew keyboard mapping,
this option starts Vim in Hebrew mode, i.e. 'hkmap' and
'rightleft' are set. Otherwise an error message is given
and Vim aborts.
-i {viminfo}
Specifies the filename to use when reading or writing the
viminfo file, instead of the default "~/.viminfo". This
can also be used to skip the use of the .viminfo file, by
giving the name "NONE".
-l Lisp mode. Sets the 'lisp' and 'showmatch' options on.
-L Same as -r.
-m Modifying files is disabled. Resets the 'write' option.
You can still modify the buffer, but writing a file is not
possible.
-M Modifications not allowed. The 'modifiable' and 'write'
options will be unset, so that changes are not allowed and
files can not be written. Note that these options can be
set to enable making modifications.
-n No swap file will be used. Recovery after a crash will be
impossible. Handy if you want to edit a file on a very
slow medium (e.g. floppy). Can also be done with ":set
uc=0". Can be undone with ":set uc=200".
-N No-compatible mode. Resets the 'compatible' option. This
will make Vim behave a bit better, but less Vi compatible,
even though a .vimrc file does not exist.
-nb Become an editor server for NetBeans. See the docs for de‐
tails.
-o[N] Open N windows stacked. When N is omitted, open one window
for each file.
-O[N] Open N windows side by side. When N is omitted, open one
window for each file.
-p[N] Open N tab pages. When N is omitted, open one tab page for
each file.
-P {parent-title}
Win32 GUI only: Specify the title of the parent applica‐
tion. When possible, Vim will run in an MDI window inside
the application. {parent-title} must appear in the window
title of the parent application. Make sure that it is spe‐
cific enough. Note that the implementation is still primi‐
tive. It won't work with all applications and the menu
doesn't work.
-r List swap files, with information about using them for re‐
covery.
-r {file} Recovery mode. The swap file is used to recover a crashed
editing session. The swap file is a file with the same
filename as the text file with ".swp" appended. See ":help
recovery".
-R Read-only mode. The 'readonly' option will be set. You
can still edit the buffer, but will be prevented from acci‐
dentally overwriting a file. If you do want to overwrite a
file, add an exclamation mark to the Ex command, as in
":w!". The -R option also implies the -n option (see
above). The 'readonly' option can be reset with ":set
noro". See ":help 'readonly'".
-s Silent mode. Only when started as "Ex" or when the "-e"
option was given before the "-s" option.
-s {scriptin}
The script file {scriptin} is read. The characters in the
file are interpreted as if you had typed them. The same
can be done with the command ":source! {scriptin}". If the
end of the file is reached before the editor exits, further
characters are read from the keyboard.
-S {file} {file} will be sourced after the first file has been read.
This is equivalent to -c "source {file}". {file} cannot
start with '-'. If {file} is omitted "Session.vim" is used
(only works when -S is the last argument).
-T {terminal}
Tells Vim the name of the terminal you are using. Only re‐
quired when the automatic way doesn't work. Should be a
terminal known to Vim (builtin) or defined in the termcap
or terminfo file.
-u {vimrc} Use the commands in the file {vimrc} for initializations.
All the other initializations are skipped. Use this to
edit a special kind of files. It can also be used to skip
all initializations by giving the name "NONE". See ":help
initialization" within vim for more details.
-U {gvimrc} Use the commands in the file {gvimrc} for GUI initializa‐
tions. All the other GUI initializations are skipped. It
can also be used to skip all GUI initializations by giving
the name "NONE". See ":help gui-init" within vim for more
details.
-v Start Vim in Vi mode, just like the executable was called
"vi". This only has effect when the executable is called
"ex".
-V[N] Verbose. Give messages about which files are sourced and
for reading and writing a viminfo file. The optional num‐
ber N is the value for 'verbose'. Default is 10.
-V[N]{filename}
Like -V and set 'verbosefile' to {filename}. The result is
that messages are not displayed but written to the file
{filename}. {filename} must not start with a digit.
-w{number} Set the 'window' option to {number}.
-w {scriptout}
All the characters that you type are recorded in the file
{scriptout}, until you exit Vim. This is useful if you
want to create a script file to be used with "vim -s" or
":source!". If the {scriptout} file exists, characters are
appended.
-W {scriptout}
Like -w, but an existing file is overwritten.
-x If Vim has been compiled with encryption support, use en‐
cryption when writing files. Will prompt for a crypt key.
-X Don't connect to the X server. Shortens startup time in a
terminal, but the window title and clipboard will not be
used.
-Y Don't connect to the wayland compositor
-y Start Vim in easy mode, just like the executable was called
"evim" or "eview". Makes Vim behave like a click-and-type
editor.
-Z Restricted mode. Works like the executable starts with
"r".
-- Denotes the end of the options. Arguments after this will
be handled as a file name. This can be used to edit a
filename that starts with a '-'.
--clean Do not use any personal configuration (vimrc, plugins,
etc.). Useful to see if a problem reproduces with a clean
Vim setup.
--cmd {command}
Like using "-c", but the command is executed just before
processing any vimrc file. You can use up to 10 of these
commands, independently from "-c" commands.
--echo-wid GTK GUI only: Echo the Window ID on stdout.
--gui-dialog-file {name}
When using the GUI, instead of showing a dialog, write the
title and message of the dialog to file {name}. The file
is created or appended to. Only useful for testing, to
avoid that the test gets stuck on a dialog that can't be
seen. Without the GUI the argument is ignored.
--help, -h, -?
Give a bit of help about the command line arguments and op‐
tions. After this Vim exits.
--literal Take file name arguments literally, do not expand wild‐
cards. This has no effect on Unix where the shell expands
wildcards.
--log {filename}
If Vim has been compiled with eval and channel feature,
start logging and write entries to {filename}. This works
like calling ch_logfile({filename}, 'ao') very early during
startup.
--nofork Foreground. For the GUI version, Vim will not fork and de‐
tach from the shell it was started in.
--noplugin Skip loading plugins. Implied by -u NONE.
--not-a-term
Tells Vim that the user knows that the input and/or output
is not connected to a terminal. This will avoid the warn‐
ing and the two second delay that would happen.
--remote Connect to a Vim server and make it edit the files given in
the rest of the arguments. If no server is found a warning
is given and the files are edited in the current Vim.
--remote-expr {expr}
Connect to a Vim server, evaluate {expr} in it and print
the result on stdout.
--remote-send {keys}
Connect to a Vim server and send {keys} to it.
--remote-silent
As --remote, but without the warning when no server is
found.
--remote-wait
As --remote, but Vim does not exit until the files have
been edited.
--remote-wait-silent
As --remote-wait, but without the warning when no server is
found.
--serverlist
List the names of all Vim servers that can be found.
--servername {name}
Use {name} as the server name. Used for the current Vim,
unless used with a --remote argument, then it's the name of
the server to connect to. If the socketserver backend is
being used, if the name starts with "/", "./", or "../", it
is taken as either an absolute, relative or relative path
to the socket.
--clientserver {backend}
Use {backend} as the backend for clientserver functional‐
ity, either "socket" or "x11" respectively. Only available
when compiled with both socketserver and X11 features
present
--socketid {id}
GTK GUI only: Use the GtkPlug mechanism to run gVim in an‐
other window.
--startuptime {file}
During startup write timing messages to the file {fname}.
--ttyfail When stdin or stdout is not a a terminal (tty) then exit
right away.
--version Print version information and exit.
--windowid {id}
Win32 GUI only: Make gVim try to use the window {id} as a
parent, so that it runs inside that window.
ON-LINE HELP
Type ":help" in Vim to get started. Type ":help subject" to get help
on a specific subject. For example: ":help ZZ" to get help for the
"ZZ" command. Use <Tab> and CTRL-D to complete subjects (":help cmd‐
line-completion"). Tags are present to jump from one place to another
(sort of hypertext links, see ":help"). All documentation files can be
viewed in this way, for example ":help syntax.txt".
FILES
/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/doc/*.txt
The Vim documentation files. Use ":help doc-file-list"
to get the complete list.
vim?? is short version number, like vim91 for Vim 9.1
/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/doc/tags
The tags file used for finding information in the docu‐
mentation files.
/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/syntax/syntax.vim
System wide syntax initializations.
/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/syntax/*.vim
Syntax files for various languages.
/usr/local/share/vim/vimrc
System wide Vim initializations.
~/.vimrc, ~/.vim/vimrc, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vim/vimrc
Your personal Vim initializations (first one found is
used).
/usr/local/share/vim/gvimrc
System wide gvim initializations.
~/.gvimrc, ~/.vim/gvimrc, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vim/gvimrc
Your personal gVim initializations (first one found is
used).
/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/optwin.vim
Script used for the ":options" command, a nice way to
view and set options.
/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/menu.vim
System wide menu initializations for gVim.
/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/bugreport.vim
Script to generate a bug report. See ":help bugs".
/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/filetype.vim
Script to detect the type of a file by its name. See
":help 'filetype'".
/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/scripts.vim
Script to detect the type of a file by its contents.
See ":help 'filetype'".
/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/print/*.ps
Files used for PostScript printing.
For recent info read the VIM home page:
<URL:http://www.vim.org/>
SEE ALSO
vimtutor(1)
AUTHOR
Most of Vim was made by Bram Moolenaar, with a lot of help from others.
See ":help credits" in Vim.
Vim is based on Stevie, worked on by: Tim Thompson, Tony Andrews and
G.R. (Fred) Walter. Although hardly any of the original code remains.
BUGS
Probably. See ":help todo" for a list of known problems.
Note that a number of things that may be regarded as bugs by some, are
in fact caused by a too-faithful reproduction of Vi's behaviour. And
if you think other things are bugs "because Vi does it differently",
you should take a closer look at the vi_diff.txt file (or type :help
vi_diff.txt when in Vim). Also have a look at the 'compatible' and
'cpoptions' options.
2025 Jun 27 VIM(1)
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