emacs text editor

Bram Moolenaar 73ade49c4b patch 9.0.1107: float constant not recognized as float 2 years ago
.github b5328b46a7 patch 9.0.1071: Codecov action version is too specific 2 years ago
READMEdir 251c1e2ed8 patch 9.0.0698: VisVim is outdated, does not work with current Visual Studio 2 years ago
ci 47d1666d60 patch 8.2.4222: MS-Windows: clumsy way to suppress progress on CI 2 years ago
nsis 251c1e2ed8 patch 9.0.0698: VisVim is outdated, does not work with current Visual Studio 2 years ago
pixmaps 89a9c159f2 Update runtime files 3 years ago
runtime 09ce0b8e11 patch 9.0.1106: not all postfix files are recognized 2 years ago
src 73ade49c4b patch 9.0.1107: float constant not recognized as float 2 years ago
tools 5f1920ada2 patch 8.1.2409: creating the distribution doesn't work as documented 5 years ago
.appveyor.yml 7904fa420e patch 9.0.0657: too many #ifdefs 2 years ago
.cirrus.yml 5e0c004f0c patch 9.0.1024: CI doesn't use the latest FreeBSD version 2 years ago
.codecov.yml 3f1cfcb864 patch 8.2.4905: codecov includes MS-Windows install header file 2 years ago
.coveralls.yml 8ea05de6aa patch 8.2.2150: Github actions CI isn't used for all available platforms 4 years ago
.gitattributes 5b39d7adb0 patch 8.1.2182: test42 seen as binary by git diff 5 years ago
.gitignore 8107a2a8af patch 9.0.0783: ":!" doesn't do anything but does update the previous command 2 years ago
.hgignore e97c7c962c patch 8.2.2883: MS-Windows manifest file name is misleading 3 years ago
CONTRIBUTING.md 2ecbe53f45 Update runtime files 2 years ago
Filelist 84dbf855fb patch 9.0.1029: autoload directory missing from distribution 2 years ago
LICENSE c838626fea patch 8.2.0105: Vim license not easy to find on github 5 years ago
Makefile 251c1e2ed8 patch 9.0.0698: VisVim is outdated, does not work with current Visual Studio 2 years ago
README.md 27b53be3a6 patch 9.0.0496: no good reason to keep supporting Windows-XP 2 years ago
README.txt 27b53be3a6 patch 9.0.0496: no good reason to keep supporting Windows-XP 2 years ago
README_VIM9.md 89a9c159f2 Update runtime files 3 years ago
configure dc9f9e93f5 patch 8.1.1317: output from Travis can be improved 5 years ago
uninstall.txt 251c1e2ed8 patch 9.0.0698: VisVim is outdated, does not work with current Visual Studio 2 years ago
vimtutor.bat ee2cbcd99c patch 8.2.3441: MS-Windows: vimtutor can't handle path with spaces 3 years ago
vimtutor.com 1ca2e361a8 updated for version 7.4.683 9 years ago

README.md

Vim Logo

Github Build status Appveyor Build status Cirrus Build Status Coverage Status Coverity Scan Debian CI Packages Fossies codespell report

For translations of this README see the end.

If you find a bug or want to discuss the best way to add a new feature, please open an issue. If you have a question or want to discuss the best way to do something with Vim, you can use StackExchange or one of the Maillists.

What is Vim?

Vim is a greatly improved version of the good old UNIX editor Vi. Many new features have been added: multi-level undo, syntax highlighting, command line history, on-line help, spell checking, filename completion, block operations, script language, etc. There is also a Graphical User Interface (GUI) available. Still, Vi compatibility is maintained, those who have Vi "in the fingers" will feel at home. See runtime/doc/vi_diff.txt for differences with Vi.

This editor is very useful for editing programs and other plain text files. All commands are given with normal keyboard characters, so those who can type with ten fingers can work very fast. Additionally, function keys can be mapped to commands by the user, and the mouse can be used.

Vim runs under MS-Windows (7, 8, 10, 11), macOS, Haiku, VMS and almost all flavours of UNIX. Porting to other systems should not be very difficult. Older versions of Vim run on MS-DOS, MS-Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/Vista, Amiga DOS, Atari MiNT, BeOS, RISC OS and OS/2. These are no longer maintained.

For Vim9 script see README_VIM9.

Distribution

You can often use your favorite package manager to install Vim. On Mac and Linux a small version of Vim is pre-installed, you still need to install Vim if you want more features.

There are separate distributions for Unix, PC, Amiga and some other systems. This README.md file comes with the runtime archive. It includes the documentation, syntax files and other files that are used at runtime. To run Vim you must get either one of the binary archives or a source archive. Which one you need depends on the system you want to run it on and whether you want or must compile it yourself. Check https://www.vim.org/download.php for an overview of currently available distributions.

Some popular places to get the latest Vim:

Compiling

If you obtained a binary distribution you don't need to compile Vim. If you obtained a source distribution, all the stuff for compiling Vim is in the src directory. See src/INSTALL for instructions.

Installation

See one of these files for system-specific instructions. Either in the READMEdir directory (in the repository) or the top directory (if you unpack an archive):

README_ami.txt      Amiga
README_unix.txt     Unix
README_dos.txt      MS-DOS and MS-Windows
README_mac.txt      Macintosh
README_haiku.txt    Haiku
README_vms.txt      VMS

There are other README_*.txt files, depending on the distribution you used.

Documentation

The Vim tutor is a one hour training course for beginners. Often it can be started as vimtutor. See :help tutor for more information.

The best is to use :help in Vim. If you don't have an executable yet, read runtime/doc/help.txt. It contains pointers to the other documentation files. The User Manual reads like a book and is recommended to learn to use Vim. See :help user-manual.

Copying

Vim is Charityware. You can use and copy it as much as you like, but you are encouraged to make a donation to help orphans in Uganda. Please read the file runtime/doc/uganda.txt for details (do :help uganda inside Vim).

Summary of the license: There are no restrictions on using or distributing an unmodified copy of Vim. Parts of Vim may also be distributed, but the license text must always be included. For modified versions a few restrictions apply. The license is GPL compatible, you may compile Vim with GPL libraries and distribute it.

Sponsoring

Fixing bugs and adding new features takes a lot of time and effort. To show your appreciation for the work and motivate Bram and others to continue working on Vim please send a donation.

Since Bram is back to a paid job the money will now be used to help children in Uganda. See runtime/doc/uganda.txt. But at the same time donations increase Bram's motivation to keep working on Vim!

For the most recent information about sponsoring look on the Vim web site:

https://www.vim.org/sponsor/

Contributing

If you would like to help making Vim better, see the CONTRIBUTING.md file.

Information

If you are on macOS, you can use Macvim.

The latest news about Vim can be found on the Vim home page:

https://www.vim.org/

If you have problems, have a look at the Vim documentation or tips:

https://www.vim.org/docs.php
https://vim.fandom.com/wiki/Vim_Tips_Wiki

If you still have problems or any other questions, use one of the mailing lists to discuss them with Vim users and developers:

https://www.vim.org/maillist.php

If nothing else works, report bugs directly:

Bram Moolenaar <Bram@vim.org>

Main author

Send any other comments, patches, flowers and suggestions to:

Bram Moolenaar <Bram@vim.org>

This is README.md for version 9.0 of Vim: Vi IMproved.