Tip #297: Start in insert mode without loosing your escape key

tip karma

Rating 2/5, Viewed by 1219

created:		August 3, 2002 17:05		complexity:		basic
author:		atkinss AT onid orst edu		as of Vim:		5.7

There are two parts to this, each is fairly simple. First, I want to start in insert mode. Well "set im!" in my vimrc did the job, but I lost the escape key. Second, I have found that often times, when I'm in command mode, I hit escape trying to get back into insert mode. I am always rewarded with a beep, telling me once again I made that mistake. So I mapped esc in command mode to set insert mode (":set im") and I mapped esc in insert mode to unset insert mode (<c-o>:set im) Well then I realized if you hit "i" in command mode, escape woulding work the first time. So here's the code to add to your vimrc: set im! " start in insert mode map <esc> :set im!<cr> " escape in command mode goes to insert mode map i :set im!<cr> " i in command mode goes to insert mode map! <esc> <c-o>:set im!<cr> " escape in insert mode goes to command mode see :help insert

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Additional Notes

[email protected], August 3, 2002 20:24

Its spelled 'lose' not 'loose'

atkinssc AT engr orst edu, August 5, 2002 9:09

I noticed that the comments may be pasted in when switching modes (atleast with my version of vim.) So I recomend moving them. eg. " Start in insert mode and " set escape to switch to " command mode or back to " insert. set im! map <esc> :set im!<cr> map i :set im!<cr> map! <esc> <c-o>:set im!<cr> Don't forget to change your other scripts to use <c-l> rather than <esc>. Also, about the speeling mistake, well, I'm sorry, I wasn't completely awake at the time.

atkinssc AT engr orst edu, August 6, 2002 8:30

Okay, here's a full set of mappings: " Start in insert mode and " set escape to switch to " command mode or back to " insert. set im! map <esc> :set im!<cr><c-o>:echo <cr> map i :set im!<cr><c-o>:echo <cr> map! <esc> <c-o>:set im!<cr>:echo <cr> map a :set im<cr><c-o>l<c-o>:echo <cr> map A :set im<cr><c-o>$<c-o>:echo <cr> map o :set im<cr><c-o>$<c-o>:echo <cr><cr> map O :set im<cr><c-o>^<c-o>:echo <cr><cr><c-o>k I found that I needed all of these so that scripts would work correctly and such.

[email protected], August 9, 2002 7:34

I think a better approach would be to use <C-L> to come to Command Mode from Insert Mode. The script would then be as simple as: se im imap <Esc> <C-L>

[email protected], July 3, 2003 14:45

vim -c 'startinsert' ;]




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