VIM FAQ

Laurent Duperval laurent@Grafnetix.COM

1. ABOUT THIS FAQ

• 1.1 What versions of Vim does this FAQ cover?
• 1.2 Who maintains this FAQ?
• 1.3 Why him?
• 1.4 Can I add to it?
• 1.5 What are the restrictions on this FAQ?
• 1.6 CHANGED] Acknowledgements

2. GENERAL INFORMATION

• 2.1 What is Vim?
• 2.2 Who wrote Vim?
• 2.3 Is Vim compatible with Vi?
• 2.4 What are some of the improvements of Vim over Vi?
• 2.5 What are the improvements of Vim 4 over Vim 3.x?
• 2.6 What are the improvements of Vim 5.x over Vim 4.x?
• 2.7 Is Vim free?

3. RESOURCES

• 3.1 CHANGED] Where can I learn more about Vim?

• 3.2 Is there a mailing list available?
• 3.3 Is there an archive available for the Vim mailing list?
• 3.4 CHANGED] Where can I report bugs?

• 3.5 Where can the FAQ be found?
• 3.6 What if I don't find an answer in this FAQ?

4. AVAILABILITY

• 4.1 CHANGED] What is the latest version of Vim?

• 4.2 Where can I find the latest version of Vim?
• 4.3 CHANGED] What platform does it run on?

• 4.4 CHANGED] What do I need to compile and install Vim?

5. TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

• 5.1 How do I use the help files?
• 5.2 Why is a backup file written even if I set nobackup?
• 5.3 How can I keep Vim from beeping all the time?
• 5.4 How do I map the Tab key?
• 5.5 How do I map the Esc key?
• 5.6 How do I tell Vim where the helpfile is?
• 5.7 How do I get back to the exact position within a line I have marked with
• 5.8 How do I read in the output of a command?
• 5.9 Why can't I abbreviate ``'xy''?
• 5.10 How do I jump to the beginning/end of the highlighted text?
• 5.11 Why does completion of ``:set n'' not show negated settings, e.g.,
• 5.12 Is there a command to remove any or all digraphs?
• 5.13 How do I use a spell checker with Vim?
• 5.14 Can I copy the character above the cursor to the current cursor
• 5.15 How do I remove empty lines?
• 5.16 How do I reduce a range of empty lines into one line only?
• 5.17 How can I paste large amounts of text between two running sessions of
• 5.18 Can I use compressed versions of the help files?
• 5.19 How come I can't set option ``xxxx''?
• 5.20 How do I format a block of C code?
• 5.21 How do I put a command onto the command history without executing it?
• 5.22 Why do I hear a beep (why does my window flash) about 1 second after I
• 5.23 How do I make the 'c' and 's' commands display a '$' instead of
• 5.24 How do I add a line before each line with ``pattern'' in it?
• 5.25 How can I delete the newline which is followed by a given character,
• 5.26 How do I use the join command within a range of lines that ends with
• 5.27 How do I map/unmap an abbreviation or a map!ed key sequence?
• 5.28 When I use my arrow keys, Vim changes modes, inserts weird characters
• 5.29 How do I ``auto-outdent'' some lines containing certain keywords
• 5.30 Is there a repository for Vim macros?
• 5.31 If I have a mapping/abbreviation whose ending is the beginning of
• 5.32 Modelines are cool but Vim's modeline support is too restrictive. How
• 5.33 How can I use different .vimrc settings for different types of files?
• 5.34 How can I search for tags when running Vim over a telnet session?
• 5.35 NEW] I get errors when trying to put scripts in my mappings. Why?

• 5.36 NEW] When I try to remove mappings in my autocommands, Vim says my

6. DOS-, WINDOWS-, WIN32-SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

• 6.1 Why does the Win32 version of Vim update the screen so slowly on Windows
• 6.2 So if the Win32 version updates the screen so slowly on Windows 95 and
• 6.3 And what about the 16-bit DOS version versus the Win32 version on NT?
• 6.4 Why can't I paste into Vim when running Windows 95?
• 6.5 How do I type dead keys on Windows 95?
• 6.6 How do I type dead keys on Windows NT?
• 6.7 When will a real GUI version of Vim (gvim) for Win32 with scrollbars,
• 6.8 On a Win32 machine, I'm using Vim to edit a symbolically linked file on
• 6.9 How do I copy text from Windows applications to the DOS version of Vim?
• 6.10 Why does my Caps Lock affect all the keys characters for all the keys
• 6.11 How do I change Vim's window size in Windows?

7. UNIX-SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

• 7.1 How do I turn off the message ``Thanks for flying Vim'' on Unix
• 7.2 How do I prevent from suspending Vim?

• 7.3 How can I make Vim faster on a Unix station?
• 7.4 In Unix, how do I make Vim more colorful?