| autoindent (ai) | noai | In insert mode, indent each line to the same level as the line above or below. |
| autoprint (ap) | ap | Display changes after each editor command. (For global replacement, display last replacement.) |
| autowrite (aw) | noaw | Automatically write (save) file if changed, before opening another file with :n or before giving an external command with :! . |
| background (bg) | | Describe the background so the editor can choose appropriate highlighting colors. Default value of dark or light depends on the environment in which the editor is invoked. ( vim ) |
| backup (bk) | nobackup | Create a backup file when overwriting an existing file. ( vim ) |
| backupdir= (bdir) | .,~/tmp/,~/ | Name directories in which to store backup files if possible. The list of directories is comma-separated and in order of preference. ( vim ) |
| backupext= (bex) | ~ | String to append to filenames for backup files. ( vim ) |
| beautify (bf) | nobf | Ignore all control characters during input (except tab, newline, or formfeed). |
| cindent (cin) | nocindent | Insert indents in appropriate C format. ( vim ) |
| compatible (cp) | cp | Make vim behave more like vi . Default is nocp when a ~/ . vimrc file is found. ( vim ) |
| directory= (dir) | /tmp | Name the directory in which ex stores buffer files. (Directory must be writable.) |
| edcompatible | noed-compatible | Use ed -like features on substitute commands. |
| equalprg= (ep) | | Use the specified program for the = command. When the option is blank (the default), the key invokes the internal C indention function or the value of the indentexpr option. ( vim ) |
| errorbells (eb) | errorbells | Sound bell when an error occurs. |
| exrc (ex) | noexrc | Allow the execution of ~/.exrc files that reside outside the user 's home directory. |
| formatprg= (fp) | | The gq command will invoke the named external program to format text. It will call internal formatting functions when this option is blank (the default). ( vim ) |
| gdefault (gd) | nogdefault | Set the g flag on for substitutions by default. ( vim ) |
| hardtabs= (ht) | 8 | Define boundaries for terminal hardware tabs. |
| hidden (hid) | nohidden | Hide buffers rather than unload them when they are abandoned . ( vim ) |
| hlsearch (hls) | hlsearch | Highlight all matches of most recent search. |
| history= (hi) | 20 | Number of ex commands to store in the history table. ( vim ) |
| ignorecase (ic) | noic | Disregard case during a search. |
| incsearch (is) | noincsearch | Highlight matches to a search pattern as it is typed. ( vim ) |
| lisp | nolisp | Insert indents in appropriate LISP format. ( ) , { } , [[ , and ]] are modified to have meaning for LISP. |
| list | nolist | Print tabs as ^I ; mark ends of lines with $ . (Use list to tell if tabs or spaces are at the end of a line.) |
| magic | magic | Wildcard characters . (dot), * (asterisk), and [ ] (brackets) have special meaning in patterns. |
| mesg | mesg | Permit system messages to display on terminal while editing in vi . |
| mousehide (mh) | mousehide | When characters are typed, hide the mouse pointer. ( vim ) |
| number (nu) | nonu | Display line numbers on left of screen during editing session. |
| paste | nopaste | Change the defaults of various options to make pasting text into a terminal window work better. All options are returned to their original value when the paste option is reset. ( vim ) |
| redraw (re) | noredraw | Terminal redraws screen whenever edits are made (in other words, insert mode pushes over existing characters, and deleted lines immediately close up). Default depends on line speed and terminal type. noredraw is useful at slow speeds on a dumb terminal: deleted lines show up as @ , and inserted text appears to overwrite existing text until you press Esc. |
| remap | remap | Allow nested map sequences. |
| report= | 5 | Display a message on the prompt line whenever you make an edit that affects at least a certain number of lines. For example, 6dd reports the message "6 lines deleted." |
| ruler (ru) | ruler | Show line and column numbers for the current cursor position. ( vim ) |
| scroll= | <1/2 window> | Amount of screen to scroll. |
| sections= (sect) | SHNHH HUnhsh | Define section delimiters for [[ ]] movement. The pairs of characters in the value are the names of nroff / troff macros that begin sections. |
| shell= (sh) | /bin/sh | Pathname of shell used for shell escape ( :! ) and shell command ( :sh ). Default value is derived from SHELL variable. |
| shiftwidth= (sw) | 8 | Define number of spaces used by the indent commands ( ^T , ^D , >> , and << ). |
| showmatch (sm) | nosm | In vi , when ) or } is entered, cursor moves briefly to matching ( or { . (If the match is not on the screen, rings the error message bell.) Very useful for programming. |
| showmode | noshowmode | In insert mode, displays a message on the prompt line indicating the type of insert you are making, such as " Open Mode" or "Append Mode." |
| slowopen (slow) | | Hold off display during insert. Default depends on line speed and terminal type. |
| smartcase (scs) | nosmartcase | Override the ignorecase option when a search pattern contains uppercase characters. ( vim ) |
| tabstop= (ts) | 8 | Define number of spaces that a tab indents during editing session. (Printer still uses system tab of 8.) |
| taglength= (tl) | | Define number of characters that are significant for tags. Default (0) means that all characters are significant. |
| tags= | tags /usr/lib/tags | Define pathname of files containing tags. By default, the system looks for files tags (in the current directory) and /usr/lib/tags . |
| term = | | Set terminal type. |
| terse | noterse | Display shorter error messages. |
| timeout (to) | timeout | Keyboard maps timeout after 1 second. |
| ttytype= | | Set terminal type. Default is inherited from TERM environment variable. |
| undolevels= (ul) | 1000 | Number of changes that can be undone. ( vim ) |
| warn | warn | Display the message "No write since last change." |
| window= (w) | | Show a certain number of lines of the file on the screen. Default depends on line speed and terminal type. |
| wrapmargin= (wm) | | Define right margin. If greater than 0, automatically insert carriage returns to break lines. |
| wrapscan (ws) | ws | Searches wrap around either end of file. |
| writeany (wa) | nowa | Allow saving to any file. |
| writebackup (wb) | wb | Back up files before attempting to overwrite them. Remove the backup when the file has been successfully written. |
