Registers

Vim stores the list of yanked or deleted text in a set of registers. To see what is stored across all registers use the :reg command.

The "" register has no name, it is similar to the clipboard. Whatever is copied or deleted is placed in the "" register automatically.

The numbered registers 0-9 keep a stack of recently copied or deleted text.

To paste an item from a register you use "{reg}p. For example, to paste an item from register 0, you use: "0p

💡 Use "0p for paste copied content that accidentally got replaced because of a delete after a copy. Deleted text automatically goes to "" register. This replaces any copied text there. The original copied text is register 0 so use "0p to paste.

Named Registers

You copy items directly to named registers [a-z] by prepending your yank command with the register name. For example, yanking a word to register a use "ayw and then "ap to paste.

If you use a capital letter, [A-Z], the same corresponding named register is used, but the content is appended to the register, not replaced.

📄 Registers are stored in ~/.viminfo and loaded each time vim starts. So, registers will persist between sessions.

System Clipboard

The + register is a special register for the system clipboard. This allows you bidirectional copy and paste between Vim and the host OS.

For example, use "+yy to copy current line to the system clipboard, and "+p to paste from clipboard to vim buffer.

For system clipboard, Vim requires the clipboard support to be compiled in. Check for clipboard support using :echo has('clipboard') if the result is 0 than your version does not have it compiled. For Linux, try installing vim-gtk or similar GUI related package. Neovim has clipboard support by default, but requires xclip or xsel to be installed.

See :help registers for additional information about other special registers.