To search forward in Vim for cake, I'd type /cake, but the cursor jumps to the first match when I press return. Is there a Vim command analogous to "find next"?
7 Answers
It is n for next and N for previous.
And if you use reverse search with ? (for example, ?cake) instead of /, it is the other way round.
If it is installed on your system, you should try to run vimtutor command from your terminal, which will start a tutorial of the basic Vim commands.
Rob Wells advice about * and # is also very pertinent.
The most useful shortcut in Vim, IMHO, is the * key.
Put the cursor on a word and hit the * key and you will jump to the next instance of that word.
The # key does the same, but it jumps to the previous instance of the word.
It is truly a time saver.
When I was beginning I needed to watch a demo.
How to search in Vim
- type
/ - type search term e.g. "var"
- press enter
- for next instance press n (for previous N)
You may be looking for the n key.
Typing n will go to the next match.
As discussed, there are several ways to search:
/pattern
?pattern
* (and g*, which I sometimes use in macros)
# (and g#)
plus, navigating prev/next with N and n.
You can also edit/recall your search history by pulling up the search prompt with / and then cycle with C-p/C-n. Even more useful is q/, which takes you to a window where you can navigate the search history.
Also for consideration is the all-important 'hlsearch' (type :hls to enable). This makes it much easier to find multiple instances of your pattern. You might even want make your matches extra bright with something like:
hi Search ctermfg=yellow ctermbg=red guifg=...
But then you might go crazy with constant yellow matches all over your screen. So you’ll often find yourself using :noh. This is so common that a mapping is in order:
nmap <leader>z :noh<CR>
I easily remember this one as z since I used to constantly type /zz<CR> (which is a fast-to-type uncommon occurrence) to clear my highlighting. But the :noh mapping is way better.
If you press Ctrl + Enter after you press something like "/wordforsearch", then you can find the word "wordforsearch" in the current line. Then press n for the next match; press N for previous match.
