Master Vim Syntax Highlighting: Enable, Customize, and Persist Color Schemes

Vim’s built‑in syntax highlighting makes code easier to read by coloring keywords, variables, comments, and other elements.

Installation and version check

On Ubuntu, install Vim with: $ sudo apt-get install vim Verify the installation using:

$ vim --version

Create a sample script

Save the following Bash script as login.sh:

#!/bin/bash

echo "Type your username"
read username

echo "Type your password"
read password

if [[ $username == "admin" && $password == "secret" ]]; then
  echo "Authorized user"
else
  echo "Unauthorized user"
fi

Open it with vim login.sh to see default highlighting.

Enable/disable syntax highlighting

While editing, press ESC and type :syntax on to enable, or :syntax off to disable.

Persist settings in .vimrc

Edit ~/.vimrc (e.g., sudo vim ~/.vimrc) and add:

syntax on
set background=dark

Save with :wq. Use syntax off to permanently disable.

Change color schemes

Vim stores schemes in /usr/share/vim/vim*/colors/. List them with: $ ls -l /usr/share/vim/vim*/colors/ Apply a scheme temporarily with :colorscheme morning. To make it permanent, add the same command to .vimrc.

Language‑specific syntax

Vim automatically selects a scheme based on file type, but you can override it. For a Python file, type: :set syntax=perl Press Enter to view the Perl‑style highlighting.

Custom highlight groups

Vim defines groups such as Identifier, Statement, Comment, Type, PreProc, Constant, Special, Underlined, and Error. Change a group’s color with the :hi command, e.g.: :hi Statement ctermfg=red This turns keywords like if and else red. Similar commands work for comments, constants, and other groups, allowing you to craft a personalized color scheme.