Paste registers in search or colon commands instead of using the clipboard

Tip 490 Printable Monobook Previous Next

created June 20, 2003 · complexity intermediate · author rainbrot · version 5.7

---

You can type Ctrl-R to insert a register when in insert mode, or when typing in the command or search line. When you press Ctrl-R you will see " (quote) to prompt you to finish the command by entering a register. For example, press Ctrl-R then a to insert the contents of the a register, or Ctrl-R then " to insert the contents of the unnamed register.

You can press v then move the cursor to visually select some text (say the text is "hello world"). If you press y the selected text is yanked (copied) into the unnamed register. You can now type :%s/ then <C-r>" (Ctrl-R quote), which would show the following in the command line:

:%s/hello world

You could complete the substitute command, to read, for example:

:%s/hello world/goodbye everyone/gc

Type <C-r><C-w> to paste the word under the cursor into the command line, or <C-r><C-a> to paste the WORD.

References

• :help c_CTRL-R
• :help i_CTRL-R
• :help WORD

---