Master Vim: 12 Essential Tips to Boost Your Coding Efficiency

1. Use Built‑in Help

Access Vim's documentation with :help followed by a command or keyword, e.g., :help :w for write command help.

2. Edit as Normal User, Save as Root

When a file requires elevated privileges, write changes without leaving Vim using: :w !sudo tee % This prompts for the sudo password and writes the file safely. Prefer sudoedit over sudo vim for such tasks.

3. Convert Spaces ↔ Tabs

3.1 Convert spaces to tabs

:set noexpandtab</code>
<code>:retab!

3.2 Convert tabs to spaces

:set expandtab</code>
<code>:set tabstop=4</code>
<code>:set shiftwidth=4</code>
<code>:retab

These commands adjust Vim's indentation behavior and replace the opposite whitespace characters.

4. Indent All Lines

Press gg to go to the top, then = followed by G to re‑indent the entire file automatically.

5. Preserve Indentation When Pasting Code

Add the following to .vimrc to toggle paste mode with F2:

set pastetoggle=<F2>

6. Start Writing at Correct Indent Depth

From normal mode, press S at the beginning of a line; Vim moves the cursor to the appropriate indent and enters insert mode.

7. Show Differences Before Saving

Run the following to compare the buffer with the file on disk: :w !diff % - The command writes the unsaved buffer to STDIN, then diff compares it with the current file.

8. Enable Spell Checking

Turn on Vim's spell checker with: :set spell To make it permanent, add the same line to .vimrc.

9. Show Line Numbers

Enable both absolute and relative line numbers by adding to .vimrc: set number relativenumber This displays the current line's absolute number and relative numbers for all other lines.

10. Open a File at a Specific Line

Use the +n option (where n is the line number) when launching Vim:

vim +n <file-name>

11. Choose Readable Color Schemes

Select a color scheme that highlights syntax clearly; examples are shown in the accompanying screenshots.

12. Delete Text in Insert Mode

Common shortcuts while in insert mode: Ctrl+W – delete the previous word (equivalent to db in normal mode). Ctrl+H – delete the previous character. Ctrl+U – delete all characters before the cursor on the current line (like d0). Ctrl+K – delete from the cursor to the end of the line (like d$).