~ / registers / replace-selectionlesson 4/5

Replace a selection with p (and P)

Select text and put over it; the old text drops into the unnamed register.

?how it works

Putting in Visual mode replaces the selection. Yank a word, select another one with viw (or ve from its first letter), press p: done. After V it replaces whole lines.

The replaced text isn't lost: it moves into the unnamed register. That makes swaps easy. Cut the first word with de, select the second and p, and now the second word is in the register, ready to P into the gap you left.

The flip side is that after a Visual p your yank has been swapped out, so doing it again somewhere else puts the wrong word. To stamp the same text over several places, press P in Visual mode instead: it replaces the selection without changing any register, so you can do it as often as you like.

⌨keys

`viwp`	replace the word with the register; the old word goes to ""
`Vp`	replace the line(s) with the register
`v{motion}P`	replace the selection and leave every register as it was
`v{motion}"0p`	replace the selection with the last yank

Nin neovim

Visual P keeping your registers untouched is how Neovim (and Vim 9) behave. Older Vim treated P and p the same in Visual mode, so older tutorials may tell you to use "0p for this instead. That still works too.

4 drills

Replace a word with a yank: Yank the word under the cursor, then replace the placeholder on the next line with it: select the placeholder in Visual mode and press p.
Replace a line with Vp: The last line is stale. Replace it with a copy of the first line: yy the good one, go to the stale one, then Vp.
Swap two words with de, p and P: Swap the word under the cursor with the other word that trades places in the target. Cut the first with de, select the second and p, then go back and P.
Same text, many places: Visual P: Yank the word under the cursor and stamp it over every placeholder. Visual P replaces without touching the register, so the same word goes in each time. (. is switched off for this drill.)

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