[vim] Find and replace strings in vim on multiple lines

I can do :%s/<search_string>/<replace_string>/g for replacing a string across a file, or :s/<search_string>/<replace_string>/ to replace in current line.

How can I select and replace words from selective lines in vim?

Example: replace text from lines 6-10, 14-18 but not from 11-13.

In vim if you are confused which all lines will be affected, Use below

 :%s/foo/bar/gc  

Change each 'foo' to 'bar', but ask for confirmation first. Press 'y' for yes and 'n' for no. Dont forget to save after that

:wq

We don't need to bother entering the current line number.

If you would like to change each foo to bar for current line (.) and the two next lines (+2), simply do:

:.,+2s/foo/bar/g

If you want to confirm before changes are made, replace g with gc:

:.,+2s/foo/bar/gc

/sys/sim/source/gm/kg/jl/ls/owow/lsal
/sys/sim/source/gm/kg/jl/ls/owow/lsal
/sys/sim/source/gm/kg/jl/ls/owow/lsal
/sys/sim/source/gm/kg/jl/ls/owow/lsal
/sys/sim/source/gm/kg/jl/ls/owow/lsal
/sys/sim/source/gm/kg/jl/ls/owow/lsal
/sys/sim/source/gm/kg/jl/ls/owow/lsal
/sys/sim/source/gm/kg/jl/ls/owow/lsal

Suppose if you want to replace the above with some other info.

COMMAND(:%s/\/sys\/sim\/source\/gm\/kg\/jl\/ls\/owow\/lsal/sys.pkg.mpu.umc.kdk./g)

In this the above will be get replaced with (sys.pkg.mpu.umc.kdk.) .

VI search and replace command examples

Let us say you would like to find a word called “foo” and replace with “bar”.

First hit [Esc] key

Type : (colon) followed by %s/foo/bar/ and hit [Enter] key

:%s/foo/bar/

Specifying the range through visual selection is ok but when there are very simple operations over just a couple of lines that can be selected by an operator the best would be to apply these commands as operators.

This sadly can't be done through standards vim commands. You could do a sort of workaround using the ! (filter) operator and any text object. For example, to apply the operation to a paragraph, you can do:

!ip

This has to be read as "Apply the operator ! inside a paragraph". The filter operator starts command mode and automatically insert the range of lines followed by a literal "!" that you can delete just after. If you apply this, to the following paragraph:

1
2  Repellendus qui velit vel ullam!
3  ipsam sint modi! velit ipsam sint
4  modi! Debitis dolorum distinctio
5  mollitia vel ullam! Repellendus qui
6  Debitis dolorum distinctio mollitia
7  vel ullam! ipsam
8
9  More text around here

The result after pressing "!ap" would be like:

:.,.+5

As the '.' (point) means the current line, the range between the current line and the 5 lines after will be used for the operation. Now you can add the substitute command the same way as previously.

The bad part is that this is not easier that selecting the text for latter applying the operator. The good part is that this can repeat the insertion of the range for other similar text ranges (in this case, paragraphs) with sightly different size. I.e., if you later want to select the range bigger paragraph the '.' will to it right.

Also, if you like the idea of using semantic text objects to select the range of operation, you can check my plugin EXtend.vim that can do the same but in an easier manner.

Search and replace

:%s/search\|search2\|search3/replace/gci

g => global search

c => Ask for confirmation first

i => Case insensitive

If you want direct replacement without confirmation, use below command

:%s/search/replace/g

If you want confirmation for each replace then run the below command

:%s/search/replace/gc

Ask for confirmation first, here search will be case insensitive.

:%s/search/replace/gci

Replace All:

:%s/foo/bar/g

Find each occurrence of 'foo' (in all lines), and replace it with 'bar'.

For specific lines:

:6,10s/foo/bar/g

Change each 'foo' to 'bar' for all lines from line 6 to line 10 inclusive.

You can do it with two find/replace sequences

  :6,10s/<search_string>/<replace_string>/g
  :14,18s/<search_string>/<replace_string>/g

The second time all you need to adjust is the range so instead of typing it all out, I would recall the last command and edit just the range

To answer this question:

:40,50s/foo/bar/g

replace foo with bar in these lines between the 40th line and the 50th line(inclusive), when execute this command you can currently in any line.

:50,40s/foo/bar/g

also works, vim will ask you for comfirm and then do the replacement for you as if you have input the first command.

:,50s/foo/bar/g

replace foo with bar in these lines between the line you are currently in and the 50th line(inclusive). (if you are in a line AFTER the 50th line vim will ask for confirm again)

To clearity the difference between vim and the vrapper plugin of Eclipse:

Note that in varpper

:,50s/foo/bar/g command will NOT work.

:50,40s/foo/bar/g will work without asking for comfirmation.

(For Vrapper Version 0.74.0 or older).

As a side note, instead of having to type in the line numbers, just highlight the lines where you want to find/replace in one of the visual modes:

• VISUAL mode (V)
• VISUAL BLOCK mode (Ctrl+V)
• VISUAL LINE mode (Shift+V, works best in your case)

Once you selected the lines to replace, type your command:

:s/<search_string>/<replace_string>/g

You'll note that the range '<,'> will be inserted automatically for you:

:'<,'>s/<search_string>/<replace_string>/g

Here '< simply means first highlighted line, and '> means last highlighted line.

Note that the behaviour might be unexpected when in NORMAL mode: '< and '> point to the start and end of the last highlight done in one of the VISUAL modes. Instead, in NORMAL mode, the special line number . can be used, which simply means current line. Hence, you can find/replace only on the current line like this:

:.s/<search_string>/<replace_string>/g

Another thing to note is that inserting a second : between the range and the find/replace command does no harm, in other words, these commands will still work:

:'<,'>:s/<search_string>/<replace_string>/g
:.:s/<search_string>/<replace_string>/g