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created 2005 · complexity basic · author mmj · version 6.0


You can set the text width for automatic word wrapping using :set textwidth=n (or :set tw=n) where n is a positive integer, for example:

:set tw=79

That will automatically wrap text as close to 79 characters as white space allows without exceeding the 79 character limit. This option wraps at word boundaries.

Wrapping text using textwidth requires "t" in formatoptions, which it is by default. The following commands display the current setting then add "t" if needed. The abbreviation fo is used instead of formatoptions.

:set fo?
:set fo+=t

If a line is already longer than textwidth when insert mode is started, the line may not be wrapped even if text is added to the line. A long line is not wrapped when text is added if formatoptions contains "l". If needed, "l" can be removed so long lines will be wrapped:

:set fo-=l

To stop automatic wrapping, unset textwidth using:

:set tw=0

If you want to wrap lines in a specific area, move the cursor to the text you want to format and type gq followed by the range. For example, gqq wraps the current line and gqip wraps the current paragraph. gq followed by ap "a paragraph" also seems to wrap the current paragraph based on the current setting for textwidth.

The following sets a wrap margin of 2 characters from the right window border. A system-dependent EOL character is inserted and the line wraps as you type. This option may be useful in some situations, but probably is not what you are looking for.

:set wm=2

The above methods do a "hard" wrap of your text, by inserting newline characters.

An alternative method is a "soft" wrap which does not change the text but simply displays it on multiple lines. This can be achieved with:

:set wrap linebreak

Note that this may lead to a bunch of screen lines being taken up by only a single "real" line, so commands like j and k which move on real lines will skip over a lot of screen lines. You can use gj and gk to move by screen lines.

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Comments[]

Word-wrapping will not work unless the filetype is ".txt".

It works, but automatic wrapping only occurs if 't' is present in 'formatoptions' ('fo'). For example, edit a C program then enter ":verbose set fo?". It will show that an ftplugin script removed 't'. JohnBeckett (talk) 06:18, 17 February 2022 (UTC)
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