VIM, incremental search: How can I jump to the next result and get it highlighted?

Question

When using VIM's incremental search option I usually search and after I got to the first result (it will be highlighted) I use the / key to jump to the next result.

But:

For this I need to 'cancel' my search and go back to Normal Mode in order to jump the next result.
Pressing / makes VIM jump to the next result but it won't highlight it.

I am wondering if there is a more efficient way to jump between the results using incremental search and get them highlighted.

score 119 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 08 '11 at 10:12

119

The customary key for jumping to the next search result is 'n'.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean about highlighting - all search results should be highlighted if hlsearch is set, and for me it makes no difference if I go to the next result with 'n' or with '/'.

answered Nov 08 '11 at 10:12

Matthew Walton

9,809
3
27
36

2

Matthew, thanks. However, I do incremental search, type (it jumps and highlights) than I press ENTER than use 'n' and the cursor jumps to the next result. But it is not highlighted. Do you think it should act differently? – zoltanctoth Nov 08 '11 at 10:15
Mine just highlights all of them straight away - if there are multiple search results visible in the buffer at the same time, I can see they've all got yellow backgrounds. This is the default configuration on my system, and IIRC is controlled by the 'hlsearch' setting. – Matthew Walton Nov 08 '11 at 10:29
16

And 'N' to search backwards. – sunsations Dec 10 '13 at 03:50
@MatthewWalton any idea, how i can jump a fixed number of results in search. I mean for example jump to the 10th matching line – GP cyborg Nov 11 '15 at 15:23
@GPcyborg Try `[number]n`? That should perform `n` `[number]` times, i.e. go forward `n` results. – Nic Jun 28 '19 at 15:32

score 14 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 21 '21 at 18:24

14

With Ctrl-t and Ctrl-g you can move between matches without leaving the search mode

answered Mar 21 '21 at 18:24

Sofronie Cristian

147
1
3

This is what I was looking for. I wanted to have the currently selected match to be highlighted. – Timothy Pulliam Apr 02 '21 at 19:09
For me this is the answer to the question – Joakim Tall Dec 12 '22 at 09:37

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 08 '11 at 10:18

5

If you want to highlight all search hits you should set hlsearch not incsearch.

answered Nov 08 '11 at 10:18

Benoit

76,634
23
210
236

1

That was the problem. Thanks. – zoltanctoth Nov 08 '11 at 10:24
2

@zoltanctoth: you should really accept the other answer instead, because he was first and told the same actually. – Benoit Nov 08 '11 at 10:24
You are right. I have missed the hlsearch part in @matthew's answer. Thanks for noticing. – zoltanctoth Nov 08 '11 at 10:32

VIM, incremental search: How can I jump to the next result and get it highlighted?

3 Answers3