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vim

Vim: go to line and enter insert mode

How do you go to a line beginning or end and enter insert mode in vim?

For example you can delete a line number 33 with :33d. Is there an equivalent that lets you perform the same action as 36G followed by i or 36G, A so that you can go to line 36 and insert at the start of the line or the end of the line with a single command?

Solution

  • You can use :help :startinsert for that:

    :33|star     " go to line 33 and start insert mode before the cursor (like i)
:33|star!    " go to line 33 and start insert mode after the end of the line (like A)

    Note that :startinsert doesn't accept a range so we must use :help :| as a workaround.

    Also, :startinsert does i and A but it doesn't do I or a. I don't know of any easy workaround. If you feel adventurous, :help feedkeys() could help you craft your own custom commands:

    :33|call feedkeys('I')