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Linux Vim Undo And Redo-Undo Shortcuts

In Vim, undo and redo are essential features that help you correct mistakes or recover previous changes while editing files. This tutorial will cover the basic Vim commands and shortcuts for undoing and redoing changes.

Undo in Vim

To undo the last change in Vim, follow these steps:

  1. Ensure you are in Normal mode by pressing ESC.
  2. Press u to undo the last change.

Vim maintains an undo history, which means you can undo multiple changes by pressing u repeatedly.

Redo in Vim

To redo the last undone change, follow these steps:

  1. Ensure you are in Normal mode by pressing ESC.
  2. Press CTRL+R to redo the last change you undid.

Like undo, Vim maintains a redo history, so you can redo multiple changes by pressing CTRL+R repeatedly.

Undo branches

Vim has a unique feature called undo branches, which allows you to navigate through the entire undo history of the current buffer. You can use the :earlier and :later commands to move backward and forward through the undo tree, respectively.

  1. :earlier {count}: Move {count} steps back in the undo history. Replace {count} with the number of steps you want to go back.

  2. :earlier {count}s or :earlier {count}m: Move {count} seconds or minutes back in the undo history. Replace {count} with the number of seconds or minutes you want to go back.

  3. :later {count}: Move {count} steps forward in the undo history. Replace {count} with the number of steps you want to go forward.

  4. :later {count}s or :later {count}m: Move {count} seconds or minutes forward in the undo history. Replace {count} with the number of seconds or minutes you want to go forward.

Persistent undo

By default, Vim's undo history is lost when you close the editor. However, you can enable the persistent undo feature to save the undo history to a file and reload it the next time you open the same file.

To enable persistent undo, add the following lines to your vimrc file:

set undofile
set undodir=~/.vim/undo

This will create and store undo files in the ~/.vim/undo directory. You may need to create this directory if it does not already exist:

mkdir -p ~/.vim/undo

In conclusion, the undo and redo features in Vim are invaluable tools for correcting mistakes and managing changes in your text files. Familiarizing yourself with these commands and shortcuts will make your text editing experience more efficient and enjoyable.

  1. Undo and redo in Vim on Linux:

    • Description: Vim provides powerful undo and redo functionalities for effective text editing.
    • Code:
      # Example: Undo and redo
      u - undo
      Ctrl + r - redo
      
  2. How to undo changes in Vim:

    • Description: Use the u command to undo the last change made in normal mode.
    • Code:
      # Example: Undo changes
      u - undo
      
  3. Vim undo and redo shortcuts:

    • Description: Shortcuts u for undo and Ctrl + r for redo simplify the process.
    • Code:
      # Example: Undo and redo shortcuts
      u - undo
      Ctrl + r - redo
      
  4. Navigating through undo history in Vim:

    • Description: View and navigate through undo history using :undolist.
    • Code:
      # Example: View undo history
      :undolist
      
  5. Redoing changes in Vim after undo:

    • Description: After undoing changes, use Ctrl + r to redo.
    • Code:
      # Example: Redo changes
      Ctrl + r - redo
      
  6. Vim undo tree and visualizing changes:

    • Description: Plugins like Gundo or Undotree visualize the undo tree.
    • Code:
      # Install Gundo plugin
      git clone https://github.com/sjl/gundo.vim.git ~/.vim/bundle/gundo
      
  7. Using undo and redo commands in insert mode:

    • Description: In insert mode, Ctrl + w undoes the last word, and Ctrl + r redoes.
    • Code:
      # Example: Undo and redo in insert mode
      Ctrl + w - undo last word
      Ctrl + r - redo
      
  8. Undoing specific changes in Vim:

    • Description: Specify a range for :undo to selectively undo changes.
    • Code:
      # Example: Undo specific changes
      :undo 3 - undo the third change
      
  9. Customizing undo and redo settings in Vim:

    • Description: Customize undo settings in ~/.vimrc.
    • Code:
      " Example: Customizing undo settings
      set undolevels=1000 - set maximum undo levels
      
  10. Troubleshooting undo and redo issues in Vim: