Random .vimrc Tips

Here are some of my favorite .vimrc lines.

Save quickly from any mode by pressing CTRL+:

imap <C-\> <Esc>:w<Cr>
map <C-\> <Esc>:w<Cr>

Make indenting and de-indenting in visual mode preserve the selection:

vnoremap > ><CR>gv
vnoremap < <<CR>gv

Quick case insensitive search with double slash or double question mark:

map // /\c
map ?? ?\c

Make the j and k keys move up by a line on the screen rather than a line in the file (very useful when navigating a long line that has wrapped many times):

map j gj
map k gk

Highlight column 80 (Vim 7.3+ only):

if v:version >= 703
    set cc=80
    hi ColorColumn ctermbg=Gray ctermfg=Black guibg=#404040
    command Skinny set cc=73
    command Wide set cc=80
endif

Don’t show the splash screen:

set shortmess+=I

Keep the cursor 4 lines away from the top or bottom to automatically preserve context when editing near the top or bottom of the window:

set scrolloff=4

Make CTRL+u and CTRL+d less confusing:

map <C-u> 10<C-Y>10k
map <C-d> 10<C-E>10j

Scroll the screen with ALT+{j,k}:

map <A-j> 2<C-E>
map <A-k> 2<C-Y>

Easy paste toggle:

" Allow middle-click pasting of large texts in terminal
set pastetoggle=<F5>
" Clear paste mode when going back to normal mode
au InsertLeave * set nopaste

Switch windows quickly with CTRL+{h,j,k,l}:

" This breaks backspace in a terminal, but I never use backspace in normal mode
map <C-h> <C-W>h
map <C-j> <C-W>j
map <C-k> <C-W>k
map <C-l> <C-W>l
" This would break in a terminal where ^H is backspace.
if has("gui_running")
    imap <C-h> <Esc><C-W>h
endif
imap <C-j> <Esc><C-W>j
imap <C-k> <Esc><C-W>k
imap <C-l> <Esc><C-W>l

Click here for my entire Vim configuration.

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