How to use system clipboard in VIM

Question

Here is scenario, In VIM, I copy the string(e.g. /home/redhat) from the file, and then use this command :! cd XXX(the path I have copied from the buffer, in this case it should be /home/redhat).

My question is, what command should I use to paste the string?

Answer 1

After :, you're in command-line mode. Like in insert mode, you can insert register contents at the cursor position by pressing Ctrl + R, followed by the register name. So, if you simply yanked the /home/redhat, that would be " for the default register; for the system clipboard, use + instead.

In the command-line, you can also press Ctrl + F to switch to the command-line window, in which you can use all Vim commands, like in any other buffer, so you could also paste via the usual p / P from normal mode.

Learn how to look up commands and navigate the built-in :help; it is comprehensive and offers many tips. You won't learn Vim as fast as other editors, but if you commit to continuous learning, it'll prove a very powerful and efficient editor. The help topics for the commands mentioned here are :help c_CTRL-R and :help c_CTRL-F.

Answer 2

"+y is copy from system clipboard in vim, and "+p is paste from system clipboard, you can map them to normal key bindings.

noremap <C-C> "+y
noremap <C-V> "+p

" Note that mapping <C-V> to paste from system clipboard conflicts with vertical mode I suggest you remap vertical mode to <C-Q>

noremap <C-Q>       <C-V>

for other mappings, you can check mswin.vim

If you do not care about system clipboards, y is copy and p is paste in normal mode.

Answer 3

You don't need the system clipboard at all for your use case:

:!cd <C-r>"

In insert mode and in Vim's command-line, <C-r>{register} inserts the content of that register at the cursor. Since you yanked /home/redhat, the content of the unnamed register, " (see :help registers), is /home/redhat and it's inserted right where you typed <C-r>":

:!cd /home/redhat

FWIW, you can also insert the file path under the cursor without yanking and pasting:

:!cd <C-r><C-f>

Answer 4

With :new /path/to/file you go to new file. Then paste the information with P (always out of mode Insert).