Vim – How to Edit Multiple Files

command linefileslinuxvim

I know I can open multiple files with vim by doing something like vim 2011-12*.log, but how can I switch between files and close the files one at a time? Also, how can I tell the file name of the current file that I'm editing?

Best Answer

First of all, in vim you can enter : (colon) and then help help, ala :help for a list of self help topics, including a short tutorial. Within the list of topics move your cursor over the topic of interest and then press ctrl] and that topic will be opened.

A good place for you to start would be the topic

|usr_07.txt|  Editing more than one file

Ok, on to your answer.

After starting vim with a list of files, you can move to the next file by entering :next or :n for short. :wnext is short for write current changes and then move to next file.

There's also an analogous :previous, :wprevious and :Next. (Note that :p is shorthand for :print. The shorthand for :previous is :prev or :N.)

To see where you are in the file list enter :args and the file currently being edited will appear in [] (brackets).

Example: 

vim foo.txt bar.txt
:args

result: 

[foo.txt] bar.txt
Related Question