Backspace not working, even after attempted fix

backspacevim

I tried following the instructions in Backspace key not working in vim , but I still have the same problem: BACKSPACE inserts a ^?

That is to say: inserting set bs=indent,eol,start in my ~/.vimrc did not solve the problem.

I am sure that I am loading the correct source file (I did a test of another setting, and the change propagated).

I am using: Vi IMproved 7.2 on Ubuntu with Gnome. In the terminal application, backspace works properly.

Best Answer

Vim seems to be confused about what your terminal sends as the erase character. As this varies between ^? (Ctrl+?, or DEL for "delete") and ^H (Ctrl+H or BS for "backspace"), Vim depends on someone telling it what to expect.

That shouldn't happen unless

  • you're changing related settings in your vimrc,
  • you're changing the value of the TERM environment variable,
  • your terminal information database is messed up, or
  • you're suffering from a gremlin infestation.

For troubleshooting, try to run the command stty erase ^? before starting Vim, and see if this fixes it. Enter the ^? not separately as ^ and ?, but by first pressing Ctrl+V, then your Backspace key. If your shell is well-behaved, this should produce a literal representation of whatever your terminal sends when you hit that key.

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