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Tip 676 Printable Monobook Previous Next

created March 13, 2004 · complexity basic · author LunLun · version 6.0


I want to open gvim, in Windows XP, using a shortcut key.

To do this, I made a shortcut to gvim, and I assigned a shortcut key in the Properties menu.

However, I can start the first instance of gvim, but the same combination will not allow me to start the second instance; it will just display the first one.

My solution was to create a shortcut in the Start Menu. Now, I press and release the "Windows" key, and then press "g" once. It can launch an unlimited number of instances of Vim. Sometimes, I need to write a script in one instance and to see the output in another.

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Comments[]

I used this shortcut target, under the "\Doc*Settings\All Users\Start Menu":

"C:\Program Files\gvim\vim62\gvim.exe" "c:/"

Vim opens the root dir of c:, from which I can navigate and open the desired file w/o a mouse and Win Explorer.


Where all else fails there is always autohotkey


Another way to use a shortcut key to execute more than one instance of gvim is to use Rundll32.exe and the ShellExec_RunDLL function. For example:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\rundll32.exe Shell32.dll,ShellExec_RunDLL "C:\Program Files\Vim\vim72\gvim.exe"

There is an article somewhere on the wiki about using ctrl + z and ctrl + shift + z as a shortcut key...

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