How to refresh in NERDTree plugin

Question

When I open a file in vim with (Directory A in) NERDTree, it works well.

But if I open one more file in another directory (Directory B), it doesn't refresh to show the contents of directory B (While it still shows directory A).

Can NERDTree automatically refresh by itself?

If anyone else came here trying to find out how to refresh the list of files under a directory, just select the directory node and press `r`. — James M, May 26 '12 at 17:14
possible duplicate of [NERDTree reload new files](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8793489/nerdtree-reload-new-files) — Muhammad Reda, May 19 '15 at 07:10

score 109 · Answer 1 · edited Feb 02 '20 at 17:24

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From https://gist.github.com/geekontheway/2667442 : just hit the r or R key to refresh the current tree. Could be mapped to auto refresh in .vimrc

edited Feb 02 '20 at 17:24

Aliaksandr Sushkevich

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answered Oct 05 '13 at 11:41

John Smith

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score 11 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:18

11

Keymap to Refresh NERDTree

Instead of switching to the NERDTree window, hitting R and switching back, I use a custom map that does it for me:

nmap <Leader>r :NERDTreeFocus<cr>R<c-w><c-p>

Once set, pressing Leader + r would refresh NERDTree.

^{Note: Since I also use CtrlP, my actual key map has a last step to refresh CtrlP after refreshing NERDTree}

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:18

Community

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answered Oct 22 '16 at 21:39

Sheharyar

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@Jérôme, works perfectly for me. I've been using it for quite a while now; in terminal and in gvim/macvim - both on linux and osx. – Sheharyar Nov 03 '16 at 17:06
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It might perform its task, but the \| are superfluous. In fact, these should move the cursor multiple times in the NERDTree window (unless you have a mapping on ``). – Ingo Karkat Nov 03 '16 at 17:29

score 9 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 15 '21 at 20:47

9

I detested the idea of having to manually refresh my NERDTree plugin. So, I've added this to my .vimrc:

map <C-n> :call NERDTreeToggleAndRefresh()<CR>

function NERDTreeToggleAndRefresh()
  :NERDTreeToggle
  if g:NERDTree.IsOpen()
    :NERDTreeRefreshRoot
  endif
endfunction

Now, NERDTree refreshes every time I open it.

answered Jan 15 '21 at 20:47

Eric Carlson

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This should be the accepted answer. Works perfectly – Alex Mckay Jan 24 '21 at 01:13
Great, thanks for sharing! I'm now using this - with the addition that I use `:NERDTreeFind` if there is an active buffer. – steinar May 06 '22 at 11:05
I expect this to make NERDTree hang for minutes if root has a lot of childs (like `/` or such) – shallowThought Dec 20 '22 at 16:51
You may be right. That was not a use case I had to concern myself with since I only use VIM in project folders. – Eric Carlson Dec 21 '22 at 19:35

suhair · Answer 4 · 2011-12-22T07:30:37.680

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After you have opened the new file just issue the :NERDTreeFind command. It will select the current editing file node in the NerdTree. If the node does not exists then the NerdTree will initialize a new tree with the root as the current file's directory.

You can use the autocommand to track the directory while opening vim.

au VimEnter * NERDTreeFind

edited Dec 22 '11 at 07:30

answered Dec 22 '11 at 07:07

suhair

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score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 16 '16 at 06:58

2

For anyone seeing this on 2016, this worked for me:

autocmd CursorHold,CursorHoldI * call NERDTreeFocus() | call g:NERDTree.ForCurrentTab().getRoot().refresh() | call g:NERDTree.ForCurrentTab().render() | wincmd w

Enjoy!

answered Sep 16 '16 at 06:58

Luis Alejandro

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Oy, is there a way to adjust this snippet, so that it remembers the current window, when additional window splits are used? As is, this has the unfortunate side effect of forcing the cursor into a particular location, relative to the split configuration. – mcandre Mar 14 '17 at 02:43

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Dec 21 '11 at 01:52

NerdTree will keep pointing at the directory from which vim was originally opened no matter what new files are opened.

In order to change it, place the cursor on the desired directory node inside the NerdTree window and press cd.

NerdTree will confirm the directory change in the command line:

NERDTree: CWD is now: [new directory here]

Note that this also changes the working directory of vim in general which is important when running commands like :edit somefile.

It can be automated with this setting: `let NERDTreeChDirMode=2` — romainl, Dec 21 '11 at 06:34

How to refresh in NERDTree plugin

6 Answers6

Keymap to Refresh NERDTree