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Vim newbie here. I use :find command to open a file and make some changes. Suppose I want to open another file without saving the current changes, then how should I do it. What is the best way to list all open files and quickly open them again for editing. Thanks in advance.

K3---rnc
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Nikhil Pujari
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    Add the lines `set hidden` (load files without saving current file) and `set wildmenu` (useful command line tab-completion) to your `.vimrc`. Then to start editing a file in a new buffer you can do `:edit yourFile.txt`. Unlike `:find ` command, `:edit ` (or :`e ` for short) will only display files in current directory. Alternatively you can download a plugin like [`CtrlP`](https://github.com/kien/ctrlp.vim) dedicated to find/load files quickly. – builder-7000 Apr 19 '18 at 15:28
  • Possible duplicate of [How to effectively work with multiple files in Vim?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/53664/how-to-effectively-work-with-multiple-files-in-vim) – dlmeetei Apr 20 '18 at 05:51

1 Answers1

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:e! filename

will allow you to open a named file in a new buffer (note the exclamation mark overrides the warning re. an unsaved file).

CTRL-W + cursor

will move between visible buffers and does not enforce the saving of your file as you navigate.

:buffers

will list your open buffers and allow you to navigate to each one (albeit with some cryptic flags indicating which buffers are visible/hidden/amended etc.)

:help buffers

will tell you about all the buffer-related features. 

:help :wincmd

will tell you all about windows navigations

See also the VIM buffer FAQ

Brian Agnew
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  • :e! command only search in the cwd for files while :find recursively search in the cwd for files. is there a way to open file in buffer using find command. also CTRL-W + cursor command doesn't seems to work. Thanks. – Nikhil Pujari Apr 20 '18 at 06:20