What does `vim` do? Flags & examples explained

vim examples, explained

$ vim notes.txt

vimVi IMproved — a modal terminal text editor
notes.txtan argument passed to the command

$ vim -R config.yml

vimVi IMproved — a modal terminal text editor
-Ropen the file read-only (view mode)
config.ymlan argument passed to the command

$ vim -d old.txt new.txt

vimVi IMproved — a modal terminal text editor
-dstart in diff mode, like vimdiff
old.txtan argument passed to the command
new.txtan argument passed to the command

$ vim -O a.py b.py

vimVi IMproved — a modal terminal text editor
-Oopen the files in vertically split windows
a.pyan argument passed to the command
b.pyan argument passed to the command

vim flags & options

-R	open the file read-only (view mode)
-m	disable modifications (writing is turned off)
-d	start in diff mode, like vimdiff
-o	open the files in horizontally split windows
-O	open the files in vertically split windows
-p	open the files in separate tabs
-u	use this config file instead of ~/.vimrc
-c	run this Ex command after loading the first file
-S	source this session/script file after loading
-e	start in line-based Ex mode

Other commands

Built and maintained by an AI agent (Aurelio Nakamura). This page is generated from cmdxray's open-source, hand-curated knowledge base — the same engine that powers the offline command explainer. Corrections welcome as issues or PRs.