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h-eastc9e86402024-11-07 21:53:45 +01001*help.txt* For Vim version 9.1. Last change: 2024 Nov 07
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002
3 VIM - main help file
4 k
5 Move around: Use the cursor keys, or "h" to go left, h l
6 "j" to go down, "k" to go up, "l" to go right. j
7Close this window: Use ":q<Enter>".
8 Get out of Vim: Use ":qa!<Enter>" (careful, all changes are lost!).
9
Bram Moolenaar14716812006-05-04 21:54:08 +000010Jump to a subject: Position the cursor on a tag (e.g. |bars|) and hit CTRL-].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000011 With the mouse: ":set mouse=a" to enable the mouse (in xterm or GUI).
Bram Moolenaar14716812006-05-04 21:54:08 +000012 Double-click the left mouse button on a tag, e.g. |bars|.
Bram Moolenaar4c05fa02019-01-01 15:32:17 +010013 Jump back: Type CTRL-O. Repeat to go further back.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000014
15Get specific help: It is possible to go directly to whatever you want help
Bram Moolenaar1423b9d2006-05-07 15:16:06 +000016 on, by giving an argument to the |:help| command.
Bram Moolenaar345efa02016-01-15 20:57:49 +010017 Prepend something to specify the context: *help-context*
18
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000019 WHAT PREPEND EXAMPLE ~
Bram Moolenaar345efa02016-01-15 20:57:49 +010020 Normal mode command :help x
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +000021 Visual mode command v_ :help v_u
22 Insert mode command i_ :help i_<Esc>
23 Command-line command : :help :quit
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000024 Command-line editing c_ :help c_<Del>
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +000025 Vim command argument - :help -r
26 Option ' :help 'textwidth'
Bram Moolenaar5a5f4592015-04-13 12:43:06 +020027 Regular expression / :help /[
Bram Moolenaar345efa02016-01-15 20:57:49 +010028 See |help-summary| for more contexts and an explanation.
Bram Moolenaar48c3f4e2022-08-08 15:42:38 +010029 See |notation| for an explanation of the help syntax.
Bram Moolenaaracb4f222016-01-10 15:59:26 +010030
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000031 Search for help: Type ":help word", then hit CTRL-D to see matching
32 help entries for "word".
Bram Moolenaar91604412010-06-03 20:25:18 +020033 Or use ":helpgrep word". |:helpgrep|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000034
Bram Moolenaard1caa942020-04-10 22:10:56 +020035 Getting started: Do the Vim tutor, a 30-minute interactive course for the
Bram Moolenaar4c05fa02019-01-01 15:32:17 +010036 basic commands, see |vimtutor|.
37 Read the user manual from start to end: |usr_01.txt|
38
Bram Moolenaar6aa8cea2017-06-05 14:44:35 +020039Vim stands for Vi IMproved. Most of Vim was made by Bram Moolenaar, but only
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000040through the help of many others. See |credits|.
41------------------------------------------------------------------------------
42 *doc-file-list* *Q_ct*
43BASIC:
44|quickref| Overview of the most common commands you will use
Bram Moolenaard1caa942020-04-10 22:10:56 +020045|tutor| 30-minute interactive course for beginners
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000046|copying| About copyrights
47|iccf| Helping poor children in Uganda
48|sponsor| Sponsor Vim development, become a registered Vim user
49|www| Vim on the World Wide Web
50|bugs| Where to send bug reports
51
52USER MANUAL: These files explain how to accomplish an editing task.
53
54|usr_toc.txt| Table Of Contents
55
56Getting Started ~
57|usr_01.txt| About the manuals
58|usr_02.txt| The first steps in Vim
59|usr_03.txt| Moving around
60|usr_04.txt| Making small changes
61|usr_05.txt| Set your settings
62|usr_06.txt| Using syntax highlighting
63|usr_07.txt| Editing more than one file
64|usr_08.txt| Splitting windows
65|usr_09.txt| Using the GUI
66|usr_10.txt| Making big changes
67|usr_11.txt| Recovering from a crash
68|usr_12.txt| Clever tricks
69
70Editing Effectively ~
71|usr_20.txt| Typing command-line commands quickly
72|usr_21.txt| Go away and come back
73|usr_22.txt| Finding the file to edit
74|usr_23.txt| Editing other files
75|usr_24.txt| Inserting quickly
76|usr_25.txt| Editing formatted text
77|usr_26.txt| Repeating
78|usr_27.txt| Search commands and patterns
79|usr_28.txt| Folding
80|usr_29.txt| Moving through programs
81|usr_30.txt| Editing programs
82|usr_31.txt| Exploiting the GUI
Bram Moolenaarc01140a2006-03-24 22:21:52 +000083|usr_32.txt| The undo tree
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000084
85Tuning Vim ~
86|usr_40.txt| Make new commands
87|usr_41.txt| Write a Vim script
88|usr_42.txt| Add new menus
89|usr_43.txt| Using filetypes
90|usr_44.txt| Your own syntax highlighted
91|usr_45.txt| Select your language
Bram Moolenaar30ab04e2022-05-14 13:33:50 +010092
93Writing Vim scripts ~
94|usr_50.txt| Advanced Vim script writing
95|usr_51.txt| Create a plugin
96|usr_52.txt| Write plugins using Vim9 script
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000097
98Making Vim Run ~
99|usr_90.txt| Installing Vim
100
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +0000101REFERENCE MANUAL: These files explain every detail of Vim. *reference_toc*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000102
103General subjects ~
104|intro.txt| general introduction to Vim; notation used in help files
105|help.txt| overview and quick reference (this file)
Bram Moolenaar91604412010-06-03 20:25:18 +0200106|helphelp.txt| about using the help files
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000107|index.txt| alphabetical index of all commands
108|help-tags| all the tags you can jump to (index of tags)
109|howto.txt| how to do the most common editing tasks
110|tips.txt| various tips on using Vim
111|message.txt| (error) messages and explanations
112|quotes.txt| remarks from users of Vim
113|todo.txt| known problems and desired extensions
114|develop.txt| development of Vim
Bram Moolenaare344bea2005-09-01 20:46:49 +0000115|debug.txt| debugging Vim itself
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000116|uganda.txt| Vim distribution conditions and what to do with your money
117
118Basic editing ~
119|starting.txt| starting Vim, Vim command arguments, initialisation
120|editing.txt| editing and writing files
121|motion.txt| commands for moving around
122|scroll.txt| scrolling the text in the window
123|insert.txt| Insert and Replace mode
124|change.txt| deleting and replacing text
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000125|undo.txt| Undo and Redo
126|repeat.txt| repeating commands, Vim scripts and debugging
127|visual.txt| using the Visual mode (selecting a text area)
128|various.txt| various remaining commands
129|recover.txt| recovering from a crash
130
131Advanced editing ~
132|cmdline.txt| Command-line editing
133|options.txt| description of all options
134|pattern.txt| regexp patterns and search commands
135|map.txt| key mapping and abbreviations
136|tagsrch.txt| tags and special searches
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000137|windows.txt| commands for using multiple windows and buffers
Bram Moolenaar7e8fd632006-02-18 22:14:51 +0000138|tabpage.txt| commands for using multiple tab pages
Bram Moolenaar217ad922005-03-20 22:37:15 +0000139|spell.txt| spell checking
Bram Moolenaar2346a632021-06-13 19:02:49 +0200140|diff.txt| working with two to eight versions of the same file
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000141|autocmd.txt| automatically executing commands on an event
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000142|eval.txt| expression evaluation, conditional commands
Bram Moolenaar1cae5a02021-12-27 21:28:34 +0000143|builtin.txt| builtin functions
Bram Moolenaar0daafaa2022-09-04 17:45:43 +0100144|userfunc.txt| defining user functions
Bram Moolenaard0796902016-09-16 20:02:31 +0200145|channel.txt| Jobs, Channels, inter-process communication
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000146|fold.txt| hide (fold) ranges of lines
147
148Special issues ~
Bram Moolenaared997ad2019-07-21 16:42:00 +0200149|testing.txt| testing Vim and Vim scripts
Bram Moolenaar8299df92004-07-10 09:47:34 +0000150|print.txt| printing
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000151|remote.txt| using Vim as a server or client
152|term.txt| using different terminals and mice
Bram Moolenaar01164a62017-11-02 22:58:42 +0100153|terminal.txt| Terminal window support
Bram Moolenaard1caa942020-04-10 22:10:56 +0200154|popup.txt| popup window support
Bram Moolenaar2346a632021-06-13 19:02:49 +0200155|vim9.txt| using Vim9 script
Bram Moolenaar86b48162022-12-06 18:20:10 +0000156|vim9class.txt| using Vim9 script classes
Bram Moolenaar9d87a372018-12-18 21:41:50 +0100157
158Programming language support ~
159|indent.txt| automatic indenting for C and other languages
160|syntax.txt| syntax highlighting
161|textprop.txt| Attaching properties to text for highlighting or other
162|filetype.txt| settings done specifically for a type of file
163|quickfix.txt| commands for a quick edit-compile-fix cycle
164|ft_ada.txt| Ada (the programming language) support
h-east0bdc5d82024-05-27 17:12:57 +0200165|ft_context.txt| Filetype plugin for ConTeXt
166|ft_hare.txt| Filetype plugin for Hare
Bram Moolenaar76db9e02022-11-09 21:21:04 +0000167|ft_mp.txt| Filetype plugin for METAFONT and MetaPost
Bram Moolenaar2346a632021-06-13 19:02:49 +0200168|ft_ps1.txt| Filetype plugin for Windows PowerShell
169|ft_raku.txt| Filetype plugin for Raku
Bram Moolenaar9d87a372018-12-18 21:41:50 +0100170|ft_rust.txt| Filetype plugin for Rust
171|ft_sql.txt| about the SQL filetype plugin
172
173Language support ~
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000174|digraph.txt| list of available digraphs
Bram Moolenaar207f0092020-08-30 17:20:20 +0200175|mbyte.txt| multibyte text support
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000176|mlang.txt| non-English language support
Bram Moolenaar9d87a372018-12-18 21:41:50 +0100177|rileft.txt| right-to-left editing mode
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000178|arabic.txt| Arabic language support and editing
179|farsi.txt| Farsi (Persian) editing
180|hebrew.txt| Hebrew language support and editing
181|russian.txt| Russian language support and editing
182|hangulin.txt| Hangul (Korean) input mode
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000183
184GUI ~
185|gui.txt| Graphical User Interface (GUI)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000186|gui_w32.txt| Win32 GUI
187|gui_x11.txt| X11 GUI
188
189Interfaces ~
Bram Moolenaar325b7a22004-07-05 15:58:32 +0000190|if_cscop.txt| using Cscope with Vim
Bram Moolenaar0ba04292010-07-14 23:23:17 +0200191|if_lua.txt| Lua interface
Bram Moolenaar325b7a22004-07-05 15:58:32 +0000192|if_mzsch.txt| MzScheme interface
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000193|if_perl.txt| Perl interface
194|if_pyth.txt| Python interface
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000195|if_tcl.txt| Tcl interface
196|if_ole.txt| OLE automation interface for Win32
197|if_ruby.txt| Ruby interface
198|debugger.txt| Interface with a debugger
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000199|netbeans.txt| NetBeans External Editor interface
200|sign.txt| debugging signs
201
202Versions ~
203|vi_diff.txt| Main differences between Vim and Vi
204|version4.txt| Differences between Vim version 3.0 and 4.x
205|version5.txt| Differences between Vim version 4.6 and 5.x
206|version6.txt| Differences between Vim version 5.7 and 6.x
Bram Moolenaarc6fe9192006-04-09 21:54:49 +0000207|version7.txt| Differences between Vim version 6.4 and 7.x
Bram Moolenaar03413f42016-04-12 21:07:15 +0200208|version8.txt| Differences between Vim version 7.4 and 8.x
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +0000209|version9.txt| Differences between Vim version 8.2 and 9.0
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000210 *sys-file-list*
211Remarks about specific systems ~
212|os_390.txt| OS/390 Unix
213|os_amiga.txt| Amiga
214|os_beos.txt| BeOS and BeBox
Bram Moolenaar8024f932020-01-14 19:29:13 +0100215|os_dos.txt| MS-DOS and MS-Windows common items
Bram Moolenaar7ceefb32020-05-01 16:07:38 +0200216|os_haiku.txt| Haiku
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000217|os_mac.txt| Macintosh
218|os_mint.txt| Atari MiNT
219|os_msdos.txt| MS-DOS (plain DOS and DOS box under Windows)
220|os_os2.txt| OS/2
221|os_qnx.txt| QNX
222|os_risc.txt| RISC-OS
223|os_unix.txt| Unix
224|os_vms.txt| VMS
Bram Moolenaar8024f932020-01-14 19:29:13 +0100225|os_win32.txt| MS-Windows
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000226 *standard-plugin-list*
227Standard plugins ~
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +0000228|pi_getscript.txt| Downloading latest version of Vim scripts
Bram Moolenaara3e6bc92013-01-30 14:18:00 +0100229|pi_gzip.txt| Reading and writing compressed files
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200230|pi_logipat.txt| Logical operators on patterns
Bram Moolenaara3e6bc92013-01-30 14:18:00 +0100231|pi_netrw.txt| Reading and writing files over a network
232|pi_paren.txt| Highlight matching parens
Bram Moolenaar01164a62017-11-02 22:58:42 +0100233|pi_spec.txt| Filetype plugin to work with rpm spec files
Bram Moolenaara3e6bc92013-01-30 14:18:00 +0100234|pi_tar.txt| Tar file explorer
h-eastc9e86402024-11-07 21:53:45 +0100235|pi_tutor.txt| Interactive tutorial for Vim
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +0000236|pi_vimball.txt| Create a self-installing Vim script
Bram Moolenaara3e6bc92013-01-30 14:18:00 +0100237|pi_zip.txt| Zip archive explorer
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000238
239LOCAL ADDITIONS: *local-additions*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000240
241------------------------------------------------------------------------------
242*bars* Bars example
243
244Now that you've jumped here with CTRL-] or a double mouse click, you can use
245CTRL-T, CTRL-O, g<RightMouse>, or <C-RightMouse> to go back to where you were.
Bram Moolenaar14716812006-05-04 21:54:08 +0000246
247Note that tags are within | characters, but when highlighting is enabled these
Bram Moolenaar91604412010-06-03 20:25:18 +0200248characters are hidden. That makes it easier to read a command.
Bram Moolenaar14716812006-05-04 21:54:08 +0000249
250Anyway, you can use CTRL-] on any word, also when it is not within |, and Vim
Bram Moolenaar91604412010-06-03 20:25:18 +0200251will try to find help for it. Especially for options in single quotes, e.g.
252'compatible'.
Bram Moolenaar14716812006-05-04 21:54:08 +0000253
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000254------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bram Moolenaar2c64ca12018-10-19 16:22:31 +0200255 vim:tw=78:isk=!-~,^*,^\|,^\":ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: