10 Vim Tricks That Changed How I Code

1. The Dot Command

. repeats your last change. Combined with / search and n for next match, you can refactor without regex.

2. Text Objects

ci" change inside quotes. da( delete around parentheses. vip select inner paragraph. Think in objects, not characters.

3. Macros

qa to record, q to stop, @a to replay, 100@a to replay 100 times. Automate repetitive edits.

4. Registers

"ayy yank to register a. "ap paste from register a. "+y yank to system clipboard.

5. :g/pattern/command

Global command. :g/TODO/d deletes all TODO lines. :g/^$/d removes blank lines. Incredibly powerful.

6. ctrl-a / ctrl-x

Increment/decrement numbers under cursor. Works on hex too.

7. gf Go to File

Cursor on a filename? gf opens it. Works with relative paths.

8. Visual Block Mode

ctrl-v for column editing. Insert text on multiple lines simultaneously.

9. :!command

Run shell commands without leaving Vim. :%!sort sorts the entire file.

10. Persistent Undo

set undofile
set undodir=~/.vim/undodir

Undo history survives closing and reopening files.